OMG!!!

Singapore has its first case of H1N1 'flu (Influenza A)! Pandemonium! Horror! Still, the Minister's already said that the alert level will not be raised even if there was a confirmed case. Too bad. Once it reaches red school will be suspended. Anyway, school holiday's just around the corner and so there's a lower chance of us spreading the 'flu to each other then...

Here's the lowdown on the H1N1 'flu (Influenza A)...

Influenza A virus subtype H1N1, also known as A(H1N1), is a subtype of influenzavirus A and the most common cause of influenza (flu) in humans. Some strains of H1N1 are endemic in humans, including the strain(s) responsible for the 1918 flu pandemic which killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Less virulent H1N1 strains still exist in the wild today, worldwide, causing a small fraction of all influenza-like illness and a large fraction of all seasonal influenza. H1N1 strains caused roughly half of all flu infections in 2006.Other strains of H1N1 are endemic in pigs and in birds.

In March, April and May 2009, thousands of laboratory-confirmed infections and a number of deaths were caused by an outbreak of a new strain of H1N1.

Spanish 'flu

The Spanish flu, also known as La Gripe Española, or La Pesadilla, was an unusually severe and deadly strain of avian influenza, a viral infectious disease, that killed some 50 million to 100 million people worldwide over about a year in 1918 and 1919. It is thought to be one of the most deadly pandemics in human history. It was caused by the H1N1 type of influenza virus.^[5]

The Spanish flu caused an unusual number of deaths because it may have caused a cytokine storm in the body. (The recent epidemic of bird flu, also an Influenza A virus, had a similar effect.) The Spanish flu virus infected lung cells, leading to overstimulation of the immune system via release of cytokines into the lung tissue. This leads to extensive leukocyte migration towards the lungs, causing destruction of lung tissue and secretion of liquid into the organ. This makes it difficult for the patient to breathe. In contrast to other pandemics, which mostly kill the old and the very young, the 1918 pandemic killed unusual numbers of young adults, which may have been due to their healthy immune systems being able to mount a very strong and damaging response to the infection.

The term "Spanish" flu was coined because Spain was at the time the only European country where the press were printing reports of the outbreak, which had killed thousands in the armies fighting the First World War. Other countries suppressed the news in order to protect morale.

2009 H1N1 Outbreak

Minor outbreaks of swine influenza occurred in humans in 1976 and 1988, and in pigs in 1998 and 2007.

In the 2009 swine flu outbreak, the virus isolated from patients in the United States was found to be made up of genetic elements from four different flu viruses – North American Mexican influenza, North American avian influenza, human influenza, and swine influenza virus typically found in Asia and Europe – "an unusually mongrelised mix of genetic sequences."

and it goes on...... but that's all I'll go. If you want to read more check out Wikipedia-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H1N1

Still........Panic!!! (OK maybe not)