The Math Behind the H1n1 Virus
The first recorded case of H1N1 was of an Avian Influenza outbreak that occurred from 1918 to 1919. The virus originated in Spain, gradually spreading through most of Europe. By 1919, this outbreak of H1N1 had killed 50 to 100 million people worldwide. This strain of H1N1 was very similar to the bird flu that struck Asia in 2003. The most recent H1N1 outbreak occurred in April of 2009 and is still present today. This branch of H1N1 is called swine flu. The 2009 virus was first detected in Mexico and has since spread throughout the world. The outbreak of swine flu last year caused large panic in response to the virus. So far about 25,000 people have died as a result of being infected by swine flu. Of those 25,000, about 40% of these deaths took place in the United States, and by next winter some doctors have speculated that the swine flu will reemerge in the U.S. and infect more people.
H1N1 is a type of influenza virus A and respiratory disease that originally infected pigs. Before 2009, people believed that H1N1 did not affect humans, but it is clear today that the virus not only affects them, but it kills them. It is common for people to mistake the swine flu and bird flu for the same exact flu. However, this is not the case. They both are strains of the influenza virus A, but they come from completely different geographic regions. Swine flu was first recorded in North America and is most common in the United States and Mexico, but has since spread to infect all of the countries in the world. On the other hand, bird flu originated in Asia and infects primarily Asian, Eastern European, and African countries while having little presence in the western hemisphere. The American swine flu that hit the U.S. in 2009 was a mixture of swine flu, bird flu, and human flu. Many scientists explain that the swine flu is less severe than the bird flu because the swine flu has been around since the 1900s and infects people seasonally, thus giving them antibodies to provide the human with future immunity to the swine flu virus. On the contrary, the majority of strains of bird flu have not genetically come in contact with humans; therefore humans have not developed the right antibodies to fight the avian virus, which could lead to a potential pandemic in the future.
Swine flu is spread the same way as a seasonal flu is spread. The infected person sneezes and coughs, realizing the virus in the air which gives it the ability to infect others. It is also possible to become infected by touching an object that has the virus and then putting your finger in your nose or mouth. Just like how swine flu is spread, it also has very similar symptoms to the seasonal flu. The symptoms can include when, “the patient complains of high fever, of more than 100 degrees, accompanied with cough and sore throat. The patient also complains of muscle aches, headache and fatigue. In some cases, the patients may also experience