Flu is a disease that most often suffered by children. This could be because parents lack of attention to the environment where children play, unhealthy living patterns and weather factors of uncertainty.

It is a most important role in the treatment of influenza in children is the immune system or the child’s immune system. Children with the flu are advised to rest to restore many body condition, sleep enough. For the child have trouble falling asleep from boredom, it is recommended to remain resting in bed to feel comfortable, to listen to music, watching movies, or read a book. Avoid children from video games and the like since this will drain the energy of children.

Fever in children with temperatures over 38.5 degrees Celsius, give febrifuge. Consult with your doctor first before giving the child acetaminophen or ibuprofen as a febrifuge. Do not give aspirin to children because it may cause Reye’s syndrome. All of this medicines required doctor recommendations.

one of the mechanisms at the body against flu viruses breed in and around the nasal cavity is the snot out of nose. If a runny nose breathing children is very disturbing, using suction vacuum to help reduce the mucus blockage.

Another way is to do therapy by inhaling hot steam, this therapy can help relieve symptoms and ease congestion mucus expenses. The warm air and humid conditions can also help relieve flu symptoms experienced by children.

Children are encouraged to drink plenty of fluids, especially warm. Warm soup or juice can be given. Expand water consumption. Eat nutritious foods in order to recover body condition quickly.

Teach children to wash their hands regularly with soap and running water. This is done to reduce transmission of flu virus to others. Teach them also to hold their nose and mouth when sneezing or coughing. The most important thing that should not be forgotten is maintaining a healthy environment around the child.

children who got the flu should stay at home to avoid transmission to others. Fever, cough, and runny nose that would make a lot out uncomfortable feelings.

Consult your doctor immediately if flu attacked infants less than 3 months and have flu symptoms include: fever, persistent; cough accompanied by vomiting; cough with phlegm; children become fussy; decreased consciousness; or children experiencing shortness of breath. Please note that the common flu and swine flu (flu caused by H1N1 virus) have similar symptoms.

Giving the vaccine of common flu or H1N1 vaccine (need doctor recommendation) to children before the flu season (usually during the rainy season or winter) is one way to avoid the flu.

Winter peak in January 1976 with scattered snow at Fort Dix, an Army training center of the United States in New Jersey. A soldier named David Lewis (18) died and could not come to celebrate the 200th anniversary of his country. He was killed by heavy training persisted with the platoon even though he showed signs of contracting the flu; dizziness, nausea, fatigue and muscle aches later identified as swine flu caused by H1N1 virus. This is the same virus subtype influenza A viruses that became the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918-1919. Lewis joined 300 colleagues infected though not until the fatal but most should be in-patient in hospital.

This incident could create panic the U.S. public health officials will be a repeat of pandemic flu. They urged President Gerald Ford to vaccinate every American to be immune to swine flu. National Immunization Program “Swine Flu” that the U.S. Congress approved on August 12, 1976 and started running early in October 1976. Mass vaccination programs carried out on tens of millions of people, stopped in mid-December 1976 following the announcement of the Central Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that the swine flu vaccination suspected cause tens to hundreds of cases of paralysis known as Guillain-Barre syndrome.

Dr. Richard Shope of the proposed term U.S. swine flu. In 1932, he wiped snot on a pig farm and managed to pass it on to other pigs. In 1933, the English team, Wilson Smith and three others, for the first time the flu virus isolate. In 1935, Shope prove that the people who survived during the 1918-1919 Spanish flu pandemic had antibodies to the virus of swine, but the children who were born after the year 1920 did not have the antibodies. He then concludes that flu pandemic like the Spanish flu (which killed more than 50 million people around the world) were caused by a virus with the type of “pig”.

Shope hypothesize that the virus came from another animal (who turns out to be a bird), infects humans, and then transmitted by humans into pigs. Pigs then became a safe hiding place for flu viruses until then transmitted back to humans.
With advances in molecular biology, the CDC early 1990s confirmed the theory Shope. Results ‘fingerprint’ virus that infected the Fort Dix David Lewis confirmed H1 (hemagglutinin 1) N1 (neuraminidase 1), the same as “pig virus” Shope. Hemagglutinin and neuraminidase proteins are antibodies that attack antigens, the human immune system.

Minor changes in both these antigens (antigenic drift) usually do not cause flu outbreak, only serious mutations (antigenic shift) that can make human antibodies could not resist and this is what later led to pandemic flu again repeated in 1957 with “flu-asia” which caused by influenza A virus subtype H2N2 (killing more than 1 million people) and the 1968 “Hong Kong flu” H3N2 virus with more than 700,000 victims. Now there are 16 known hemagglutinin and 9 types of neuraminidase types, so you can imagine how many combinations of HN that may threaten humans. The most worrying is the H5N1 bird flu virus which has killed more than 100 Indonesian.

It seems the flu virus managed to adapt quite often, at least once every human generation emerged a new flu virus strain that can outwit humans. Usually, after a devastating flu pandemic which killed hundreds of thousands or millions of lives, people who survive will have antibodies that recognize and neutralize the proteins hemagglutinin and neuraminidase these strains. For a few years later, the population of flu virus will experience only minor changes are less dangerous.

History records great flu pandemic occurred in 1580, along with the colonization of Africa, Asia, and America. In the 17th century there was no record, but in the 18th and 19th century the devastating flu pandemic occurred in 1729, 1732, 1781, 1830, 1833, and 1889. Century ago also recorded three pandemic flu and the most wonderful years of 1918-1919. Not impossible did the 21st century is going to happen again at least three times a flu pandemic.

According to Laurie Garrett, some experts predict flu virus “swine flu” will appear with each cycle of 90-100 years. Means, 1918-1919 predicted flu pandemic will happen in the year 2009-2019. Though the prediction was right, we expect the plague “swine flu” this time not to be a plague highway. Like humans, flu viruses must continue to adapt or become extinct. 1976 events in the U.S. teach the virology that the flu virus that chameleon-like microbes. He has evolved and can survive for thousands of years.

Source : Kompas

After the football players from the Blackburn Rovers club, now the match of football club Dinamo Kiev vs Intermilan in the Champions League arena threatened cancellation caused the spread of swine flu virus in Ukraine. What was that swine flu?

Swine flu is influenza caused by influenza virus type “A” with a sub-type H1N1. The process of transmission of this virus through the animal, particularly pigs through the air. However, this virus can also spread through direct contact with sufferers.
H1N1 virus was found in humans and animals. However, both have symptoms of each:

SYMPTOMS IN THE PIG: Fever, depression, cough, discharge from the nose or eyes, sneezing, shortness of breath, red eyes, do not want to eat.

SYMPTOMS IN HUMANS : High fever of up to 37 degrees Celsius, which came suddenly, lethargy, low energy, cough, runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain and in advanced stages, shortness of breath occur. Death occurs due to respiratory failure.

INFECTIONS : Humans infected with H1N1 viruses from pigs through direct contact or via objects contaminated. Swine flu spread from human to human through the air.

PREVENTION
- Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when coughing / sneezing.
- Discard TISUE that has been used in the trash.
- Wash hands with soap, after coughing or sneezing. Can also use alcohol wipes.
- Avoid contact with flu patients.
- Reduce the interaction with others when sick.
- Do not touch eyes, nose, or mouth. Virus transmission through to our body.
- Do not eat pork that had been infected with H1N1 flu.
- Cook the pork at a minimum temperature of 70 degrees Celsius.

VACCINATION
Use antiviral oseltamivir (Tamiflu), zanamivir, mantadine, and rimantadine. The vaccine is only effective if given at an early stage of infection when lung cells not too bad.