x-pert
05-28-2009, 07:48 PM
1. Swine flu is more benign than seasonal flu - WRONG
According to the WHO, 95 people worldwide have died of confirmed cases of swine flu.
However, seasonal flu claimed an average of 36,000 lives annually in the 1990s, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
While many believe that swine flu is waning and these numbers may lead people to believe that swine flu is not as bad as seasonal flu, the situation can be deceiving.
2. You can get swine flu from eating or handling pork - WRONG
To date, no evidence has been found to link eating or handling pork to contracting swine flu.
"By eating pork or handling pork products you won't [contract] H1N1," said Ed Hsu, an associate professor of health informatics at the University of Texas Health Science Center and a contributor to ABC News's OnCall+ Swine Flu site.
"There is no scientific evidence or literature or any studies that suggest that one contracts H1N1 virus through eating pork or handling pork products."
Additionally, USDA guidelines say to cook pork products to an internal temperature of at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit, in order to kill pathogens that live on raw pork. That temperature would kill the swine flu virus.
3. If you got a seasonal flu shot you are protected from swine flu - WRONG
While a strain of H1N1 virus is one of the three flu viruses contained in the annual flu vaccine, it does not match the strain of swine flu that has been making people sick, and so the vaccine will likely not provide full protection against the flu.
"It's unclear at this time whether previous flu shots or having had the flu in the past will protect you from swine flu," said Dr. Christopher Ohl, an associate professor of infectious diseases at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.
4. When the World Health Organization's pandemic alert level rises, it means the swine flu is becoming deadlier - WRONG
The pandemic alert level is not a measure of swine flu's deadliness. Rather, it's a measure of how widespread the disease has become.
As the WHO notes, Level 5 -- the current level for swine flu -- indicates that the disease has spread from person to person and a pandemic is considered "imminent."
Read More (http://abcnews.go.com/Health/SwineFluNews/Story?id=7691400&page=1)
According to the WHO, 95 people worldwide have died of confirmed cases of swine flu.
However, seasonal flu claimed an average of 36,000 lives annually in the 1990s, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
While many believe that swine flu is waning and these numbers may lead people to believe that swine flu is not as bad as seasonal flu, the situation can be deceiving.
2. You can get swine flu from eating or handling pork - WRONG
To date, no evidence has been found to link eating or handling pork to contracting swine flu.
"By eating pork or handling pork products you won't [contract] H1N1," said Ed Hsu, an associate professor of health informatics at the University of Texas Health Science Center and a contributor to ABC News's OnCall+ Swine Flu site.
"There is no scientific evidence or literature or any studies that suggest that one contracts H1N1 virus through eating pork or handling pork products."
Additionally, USDA guidelines say to cook pork products to an internal temperature of at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit, in order to kill pathogens that live on raw pork. That temperature would kill the swine flu virus.
3. If you got a seasonal flu shot you are protected from swine flu - WRONG
While a strain of H1N1 virus is one of the three flu viruses contained in the annual flu vaccine, it does not match the strain of swine flu that has been making people sick, and so the vaccine will likely not provide full protection against the flu.
"It's unclear at this time whether previous flu shots or having had the flu in the past will protect you from swine flu," said Dr. Christopher Ohl, an associate professor of infectious diseases at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.
4. When the World Health Organization's pandemic alert level rises, it means the swine flu is becoming deadlier - WRONG
The pandemic alert level is not a measure of swine flu's deadliness. Rather, it's a measure of how widespread the disease has become.
As the WHO notes, Level 5 -- the current level for swine flu -- indicates that the disease has spread from person to person and a pandemic is considered "imminent."
Read More (http://abcnews.go.com/Health/SwineFluNews/Story?id=7691400&page=1)