Swine Flu: Health officials preparing

MOBILE, Ala. - It's closing schools and wrecking vacations. Carnival Holiday passenger Kellie Padgett was irate after her cruise was altered, "All we were handed was a slip that said the swine flu and we don't understand. If they're so concerned they should have been triaging people."

And the best advice anybody has to fight this flu is the same advice our moms gave us years ago, wash your hands.

But what exactly is the culprit behind all the concern? Under a microscope the swine flu looks like any other flu. More properly called H1N1, this virus has more than just swine in it. There are also human and bird strains in the mix. What's really different about this virus is that it's new.

Dr. Susan Turner, the Assistant Director of the Escambia County Health Department told FOX10 News, "A new strain that's not seen by our population before so it can cause more people to become sick."

Most importantly, scientists say H1N1 is missing a key amino acid that more lethal flu viruses have. So that means we have a chance to fight back. They are called anti-viral drugs. "The good news with Tamiflu is of the four antivirals that are known to treat the flu this H1N1 virus does respond well to Tamifu," said Jim Walker, Director of Alabama Homeland Security.

When the flu or any virus infects a cell it hijacks the cell and forces it to replicate more virus. Those new viruses then spread out to other healthy cells in the body. Tamiflu works by creating a protein barrier around the outside of an infected cell. That traps those viruses inside of the cell and doesn't allow it to spread to other parts of the body.

In this way, Tamiflu eases symptoms and shortens the length of infection.

In Florida, half a million doses of Tamiflu are ready to go and in Alabama 700,000 doses are being positioned around the state. "We are in the process now of running through Montgomery, pushing the supplies out to our regional distribution centers," Walker said.

David Wallace, who trains Alabama officials for health disasters, says the state is already tracking any potential problems. "We track hospitals, community health centers, nursing homes, all those facilities that have some degree of patient care," he said.

The state is using a program called the Alabama Incident Management System, or AIMS. Originally designed for a bio terrorist attack, the system only needed a little tweaking to deal with swine flu.

"We can filter this info by state, by area, by county, all the way down to the individual facility," Walker told us.

Each time hospitals send in information, the data is updated, so emergency officials will know where the hot spots are and where to send help. "It's as close to a real-time disease surveillance tool as there is out there," Walker said.

With a disease that spreads in real-time, good tracking and good drugs are the best defenses we have.

Resources on the web

Influenza - www.ADPH.org

Flu Info - www.DOH.state.fl.us

H1N1 Flu - www.CDC.gov