Health

What Is The Cause Of H1N1 Disease?

What is H1N1?

The Covid-19 virus is a frightening virus because it is able to infect a lot of people in just a short amount of time. In 2020, this virus attack is announced as a pandemic, meaning that it has infected a lot of countries in this world. However, before the Covid-19 attack, there was another serious pandemic by another virus in 2009. The virus is known as H1N1. Same as Covid-19, it is a dangerous virus as it can affect people easily and can also cause death. The world is clearly not prepared for this pandemic at that time. A lot of people had lost their lives. Thankfully, the pandemic ended in 2010 after around a year. So, you must be thinking, what is the cause? Is it the same cause as Covid-19 virus? Here what the scientists had found out about.

What is the cause of the H1N1 virus?

A lot of research had been done during the H1N1 pandemic. At that time, scientists conclude that this virus derived from an Influenza A virus. The strain is found to come from pig, bird and also human. How is this possible? Normally, the virus can just infect pigs. But in this case, it has gone on to infect humans and other animals as well. What is causing the strain to behave in that way? Well, researchers found out that the virus has an ability to grow into something new. Its mutation makes it possible for human infection. Somehow, this virus develops an affection towards a human host. Something that has never been seen in hundreds of years before.

The virus can spread easily through direct contact and also air droplets. When someone with the H1N1 virus touches other things such as the doorknob, ATM machine, chairs, the virus itself can be transferred to the touched object. Because of their ability to survive on any surface for a few days, then there is a high chance that it can be transferred to another person through direct contact. This is what causes the virus to spread easily among us. The same goes when someone sneezes or coughs. Sneezing or coughing can release the virus in the form of air droplets. These droplets then can transfer to at least one meter from the host. Anyone that stays within the 1 meter distance will have a high probability of being infected with the H1N1 virus.

When contacted, the virus can enter our body system though eyes, nose and also mouth. This is why it is highly advisable to avoid touching any of these parts especially when at a crowded place. When the virus enters our body, the first place that it will attach to is the lungs. They will reside there and multiply, making the host vulnerable. This is also the reason why people that got infected with H1N1 virus will develop symptoms that mimic some flu symptoms. Usually, the symptoms for H1N1 disease include cough, shortness of breath, chest pain, sore throat and also runny nose.

How to avoid H1N1 virus?

In order to avoid getting infected by this virus, we must follow some health protocols. This includes to stay at home, avoiding crowded areas, wear a face mask if possible, cover your sneeze or cough, practice social distancing (1 meter apart) and always practice hand washing routine. All of these steps are compulsory to do if you do not want to end up getting infected. It is always better to be prepared for any worst case scenario. Remember, prevention is always better than cure.