The term “swine flu” can now cause a great fear among people. People often consider swine flu as not a regular flu. The fact is swine flu is just an influenza virus. By this, I mean it’s just another type of flu virus just like that causes our typical seasonal flu symptoms.
Somehow, the current swine influenza A (H1N1) virus is new and most of us don’t have any immunity to it. That is what made it so easy for it to become a pandemic virus (have the ability to cause a global outbreak), because it could easily spread from person-to-person.
Swine Flu Symptoms
Like seasonal flu, according to the CDC, swine flu symptoms infections can include:
- fever, which is usually high, but unlike seasonal flu, is sometimes absent
- cough
- runny nose or stuffy nose
- sore throat
- body aches
- headache
- chills
- fatigue or tiredness, which can be extreme
- diarrhea and vomiting, sometimes, but more commonly seen than with seasonal flu
Signs of a more serious swine flu infection might include pneumonia and respiratory failure.
Serious Swine Flu Symptoms
More serious symptoms that would indicate that a child with swine flu would need urgent medical attention include:
- Fast breathing or trouble breathing
- Bluish or gray skin color
- Not drinking enough fluids
- Severe or persistent vomiting
- Not waking up or not interacting
- Being so irritable that the child does not want to be held
- Flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough
Find out more about swine flu symptoms in the link below.
