H1N1 Virus

H1N1 Virus

AH1N1 influenza (Swine flu) has become a major concern in the United States today. The Center for Disease Control has declared since June 25, 2009, there have been 27,717 occurrences of H1N1 Swine flu confirmed in the U S (CDC, 2009). Swine flu is defined as a virus that causes illness in people, much like that of the regular seasonal influenza viruses. The World Health Organization's (WHO) central concentration is strengthening and supporting health care system needs in detecting, treatment, and prevention of a pandemic spread in countries with fewer resources than those whose resources are readily available. The news article chosen for this critical appraisal is titled, H1N1 Influenza (Swine Flu), by Michael Stuart Bronze, MD.

Michael Stuart Bronze, MD, is a professor for the Department of Medicine for the University of Oklahoma specializing in infectious diseases and is a Stewart G Wolf chair in Internal Medicine. Dr. Bronze is an affiliate of many medical organizations, including The American College of Physicians, American Federation for Clinical Research, American Medical Association, American Society for Microbiology, and The Infectious Diseases Society of America (Bronze, 2009). Dr. Michael Bronze claims to have no affiliation or financial relationship with this article and wants to inform colleagues of signs and symptoms, along with prevention of the Swine flu. Because Dr. Michael Bronze's specialty is in infectious diseases there would appear to be a vested interest in the Swine flu and a worldwide pandemic of this strain of influenza.

H1N1 influenza, better known as Swine flu, is a highly contagious respiratory disease which is passed on from human to human through coughing or sneezing and not from eating or handling pork products. The first recorded occurrences of H1N1 Swine flu were reported in Mexico in the spring of 2009 (Bronze, 2009). Occurrences of H1N1 ...