The Swine flu is one of the most aggressive strains of the flu that has every been witnessed by humans. This strain of flu derives from a flu that only affected pigs and made its way to becoming compatible with human carriers. By making its way to human carriers, the disease made a large leap into contagiousness and has started an epidemic of large proportions. Fortunately, the virus is not as contagious as we had thought and is being contained fairly well. The main thing that people have to do is not spread the Swine flu to other healthy individuals by making sure to use good hygiene practices and treating the symptoms when a person does become sick. The virus itself is very mild but could be a gateway for secondary sickness such as pneumonia.

The most important thing that people could do to protect themselves against the disease is to make sure that they wash their hands. A vaccine against the most prominent strain has been developed and could possibly prevent thousands of people from becoming infected with the virus. Those who must be the most careful are those who have preexisting conditions with chronic lung disease and lower immune response. Smokers are also at higher risk of getting the Swine flu due to inflamed lungs from cigarette smoke. One of the best things to do during the flu season is to stop smoking so that the lungs could attempt to heal themselves and have a better defense towards this disease. The Swine flu can be spread easily through contact of infected individuals with other non-infected people. Leaving germ masses around such as used tissues and saliva can also harbor the disease for some period of time!