Swine Flu Symptoms

Swine flu is a respiratory infection. Cases in the United States have generally been mild. Among the first 40 cases, there has been only one brief hospitalization and no deaths.

The CDC recommends that swine influenza be considered in people who have fever and respiratory symptoms, especially cough or a sore throat.

Ill people may also experience fatigue, chills, headache, or body aches. Less commonly, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea has occurred in people with swine flu.

In Mexico, some people have experienced serious respiratory illness, including pneumonia or respiratory failure leading to death.

Some of these cases have been confirmed to have had swine influenza infection. It is not clear if the deaths were due to the influenza virus directly or if the influenza virus weakened the lung, allowing bacteria to proliferate.

If the latter is true, it would not be unusual since secondary bacterial infection is a known cause of human death during a routine human influenza season.

People with chronic medical conditions are always at higher risk for complications from influenza, and swine influenza is likely to pose a similar risk. Chronic medical conditions include asthma, chronic lung disease, heart disease, diabetes, kidney failure, etc.

People with swine influenza are assumed to be contagious for seven days after the onset of symptoms or at least 24 hours after all symptoms resolve (whichever is longer). Children may be infectious for longer periods (for example, 10 days