A Synopsis of Tests for Swine Flu

H1N1 flu is more commonly known as swine flu. It is as well called swine flu because in the past, the people who are always caught it had direct contact with pigs. That changed several years ago, when a new virus has emerged, which spread among people who actually hadn’t been near pigs.

In the year 2009, H1N1 was said to be spreading fast around the world, even so the World Health Organization called it a pandemic. Since then, each and every individual continued to get sick from swine flu, but indeed not as many.

While, it is said that swine flu is not as scary as it seemed quite a few years ago, it’s still said to be important to protect yourself from actually getting it. Like seasonal flu, it can even cause more serious health problems for some individuals. In fact the best bet is to always get a flu vaccine, or at times even flu shot, every year. It is indeed this particular disease that is said to spread faster than any other disease. Only with authentic and proper tests for swine flu you can diagnose the same.

The Symptoms of Swine Flu

The symptoms of swine flu are as follows:

  1. Chills

  2. Fever

  3. Coughing

  4. Sore throat

  5. Runny nose

  6. Body aches

  7. Fatigue

  8. Diarrhoea

  9. Nausea and vomiting

Diagnosing Swine Flu

Your doctor can always make a diagnosis by the simple process of sampling the fluid from your body. You can take a sample, and your doctor or a nurse may swab your nose or throat, to send the same to a pathological lab for further diagnosis.

The swab will be then be analysed using various genetic and even laboratory techniques in order to identify the specific type of virus.

Are There Tests for Swine Flu?

Yes. Without the presence of proper test it is really hard to tell whether you have swine flu or you are suffering from the seasonal flu. This is because most of the symptoms are the same. If you have swine flu, you may always be more likely to feel sick and most of the time your stomach will pain and you will throw up than, what you do in regular flu. But a lab test is definitely the only way to know. Even a rapid flu test at times is said to be the one that can get you accurate results.

So the only people who really need to be tested are particularly those in the hospital or even those who are considered to be at high risk for life-threatening problems from swine flu, such as:

  1. Children under 5 years old

  2. People 65 or older

  3. Children and teens under the age of 18, who are as well getting long-term aspirin therapy

  4. Pregnant women

  5. Adults and children with some kind of chronic lung, heart, liver, blood, nervous system, neuromuscular, or even metabolic problems

  6. Adults and children who have some kind of weakened immune systems

  7. Individuals who are under long term treatment