Seasonal Flu and Swine Flu Fundamentals

To keep your family healthy and safe this flu season, it’s important to know all you can about the two types of influenza circulating. Seasonal flu and H1N1 (swine flu) share some important similarities, but they also differ in critical ways. Here are the flu fundamentals on everything from symptoms to prevention.

Seasonal and Swine Flu Differences

Who’s at risk:   Seasonal flu and swine flu appear to infect different populations. For seasonal flu, the elderly are the most likely to contract the virus and to develop complications. For swine flu, children and young adults are at highest risk. “While older adults can get H1N1, it is infecting those 25 and younger at a much higher rate,” explains Dr. Aaron Milstone, an infectious disease specialist at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore.

Vaccines: Because swine flu and seasonal flu are different illnesses, they involve two separate flu vaccines. That means there is one vaccine to protect against seasonal flu and a second to prevent H1N1. Both vaccines can be delivered by either nasal spray or injection.

Seasonal and Swine Flu Similarities

Symptoms: Both viruses usually trigger fever, cough, runny nose or congestion, and body aches. “The viruses are very similar in terms of the symptoms they cause,” says Dr. Matthew Davis, associate professor of pediatrics and internal medicine at the Child Health Evaluation and Research Unit of the University of Michigan Medical School.

Red-flag warnings: Most people with swine flu and seasonal flu get a mild illness that might make them feel miserable for a few days but isn’t life-threatening. But with both types of flu, it’s important to watch for red-flag warning signs that suggest a person is developing severe complications.

• In children, look for fast breathing or breathing difficulty. Also, act fast if skin appears bluish or the child has a fever with a rash. Failure to wake up or interact, and extreme irritability, are also warning signs. In addition, symptoms that improve but then return with fever and a worse cough need immediate attention.
• In adults, red flags include breathing difficulty, pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen, sudden dizziness, confusion, or severe or persistent vomiting.

Prevention: Both viruses are transmitted through tiny amounts of mucus released when you talk, sneeze or cough, explains Dr. Robert W. Frenck Jr., professor of pediatrics in the division of infectious diseases at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. You can prevent the spread of both flu viruses by developing these healthy habits:

• Wash your hands. Several times a day, wash your hands with soap and water, especially before eating. If you don’t have sink access, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
• Cover your cough. If you feel the urge to cough or sneeze, cover your mouth with a tissue and then throw the tissue away. If you don’t have a tissue handy, cough into your elbow.
• Stay home. If you get sick, plan on staying home for four days, or until the fever has been gone for 24 hours without the aid of fever-reducing medication.
• Get vaccinated. “Vaccination is the best way to prevent influenza, whether it’s seasonal flu or H1N1,” says Dr. Davis. To find H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccination clinics near you, contact your local or state health department.

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Pediatric Safety Editor’s Notes

• With regards to vaccinations for the 2010-2011 flu season, the CDC states that “Each year, the seasonal influenza vaccine contains three influenza viruses – one influenza A (H3N2) virus, one influenza A (H1N1) virus, and one influenza B virus. The 2009 H1N1 influenza virus strain is included in the 2010-2011 seasonal flu vaccine because scientists continue to see this virus strain circulate in the U.S.” UPDATE: The H1N1 vaccine was included in the 2010-2011 seasonal flu shot

• For the latest information on the flu, please visit Flu.gov on our Awareness page.

National Influenza Vaccination Week

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) urges parents to vaccinate themselves and their children from the seasonal flu and H1N1 influenza during National Influenza Vaccination Week (NIVW). NIVW is a national observance established to educate the public about the importance of influenza vaccination and is being held January 10-16, 2010. Originally scheduled to be held in December of 2009, the date was changed to a time that demand for flu vaccines usually decreases significantly. The CDC hopes to encourage more people to get vaccinated to help curb the spread of both H1N1 and the seasonal flu.

“Vaccination is your best protection against seasonal and 2009 H1N1 flu viruses,” says Dr. Anne Schuchat, Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at CDC. “Influenza is a contagious disease that can cause symptoms such as fever, sore throat, cough, extreme tiredness, runny or stuffy nose, and sometimes vomiting and diarrhea. Complications can include pneumonia, bronchitis, sinus infections and ear infections, and worsening of chronic medical conditions such as asthma, diabetes, and some neurodevelopmental conditions.”

“This year, more than ever, do all you can do to protect yourself and your children from the flu,” says Schuchat. “The 2009 H1N1 flu virus is spreading rapidly. We’re already seeing it attack otherwise healthy children, teens, and young adults. Medical clinics on college campuses are being flooded by persons with influenza. So keep informed, wash your hands often, cover your coughs and sneezes, keep sick children at home, and if you’re sick, stay home from work and get you and your family vaccinated against seasonal flu and 2009 H1N1 flu.”

Children are in the high-risk category for the H1N1 influenza virus, as it seems to have a stronger impact on young, healthy kids than the seasonal flu usually does. It is recommended by the CDC to vaccinate all people ages 6 months to 24 years for H1N1 influenza and seasonal flu and especially any person who has a medical condition that would make them more susceptible to complications of influenza, such as asthma or an immune disorder.

Many people wonder why it is necessary to get an influenza vaccine yearly instead of once, or every few years like other vaccines. The CDC states:

Flu vaccines are effective for a year from the time they are administered. For children ages six months to eight years who have never received a seasonal flu vaccine before, two doses are needed, spaced four weeks apart. One dose will suffice for older children. For the 2009 H1N1 flu vaccine, all children through age 9 years should receive two doses.

As for infants younger than six months, the CDC says this:

Children under six months are too young to receive flu vaccine, but they are among the most vulnerable to developing serious, even fatal, complications from flu. This makes vaccination of their family members and caregivers especially critical for their protection.

CDC also recommends that close contacts, especially family members and caregivers of all children less than six months old, get a seasonal flu vaccine each year to provide added protection to this high‐risk group.

If you have questions about whether your child should or should not receive either type of influenza vaccine, please talk with your child’s doctor who can help you determine whether or not to vaccinate and which type of administration (injection aka “flu shot” or the flu mist nasal spray) is the best for your child if you do choose to vaccinate.

 For more information and resources about protecting your children from H1N1 and seasonal influenza, please visit www.Flu.gov/getvaccinated