Swine Flu: H1N1 Influenza Virus

Posted by Jenny Evans Nov 4, 2009

Help! Swine flu is a pandemic, didn't you hear?!?

Before you start to panic, go straight to the source and learn the actual definition of a pandemic. When the World Health Organization (WHO) declared H1N1 a pandemic, it caused a lot of unnecessary alarm.

'Pandemic' refers only to the spread of a virus, not to its severity. So even though H1N1 is slightly more dangerous than the seasonal flu that goes around every year, it's not as bad as you might think.

Actually, influenza of any strain is a dangerous virus: the American Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 36,000 Americans die from seasonal influenza complications every year. The difference is that most of seasonal influenza's victims are elderly people, whereas H1N1 is primarily a young people's disease.

Learn more about H1N1 at Spotting, Treating, and Preventing Swine Flu.