Imagine a disease so brutal and painful that it has the potential to kill you. The Swine Flu
is a respiratory disease that regularly outbreaks in pigs, it is also known as the “swine influenza
virus” (Information on Swine Influenza). Just like any flu virus a human experiences, the pig
does too, and just like there are multiple strains of flu to humans, there are multiple strains of flu
to pigs. The most common strain of flu that is most prevalent in both humans and pigs is the
Hemagglutinin Type 1 and Neuraminidase Type 1 (H1N1) strain. In the year 2009, the presence
of the H1N1 strain in pigs increased, and even more frightening, it infected thousands of people
around the world (H1N1 Flu). This outbreak of H1N1 elevated fear on a whole new level, and
people began to rapidly seek out vaccines hoping to avoid this disease and most importantly,
avoid death.
The history of the Swine Flu goes far back in time back to the late 1800’s where the flu in
general was a big deal. In the year of 1889, the flu virus from the H1 family had been circulating
around the world. Fortunately, for those who were born before 1889, they had built some kind of
immunity to the H1 flu strain and those who were born after did not have any kind of immunity
to the H1 virus (Timeline: The Secret History of Swine).
Next was the widespread epidemic of the “Spanish Flu” in the year of 1918 (Timeline:
The Secret History of Swine). This flu killed millions of people. Many people were frightened
because the Spanish flu was caused by the H1N1. Like any virus or bacteria, this flu evolved
from birds rather than pigs into the human flu thus killing the 50 million people (Timeline: The
Secret History of Swine). Thanks to the previous exposure of the H1N1 flu, many people had a
small amount of immunity to the Spanish flu. If there wasn’t any kind of immunity, the number
of deaths caused would be far worse. The Spanish Flu was by far the worse epidemic caused by
the H1N1 virus because after the virus found a host, it invited a bacterium into the body that
cause lung infections (Information on Swine Influenza). Medicine at the time had not evolved to
stop this virus, but in the event that the 1918 Spanish Flu were to break out, the epidemic would
be far from an individual’s worries. To this day, the Spanish Flu still circulates only causing a
seasonal outbreak of flu in humans.
Finally, in 1931, the Swine Flu arrives in the United States (Swine Flu (H1N1 Flu)). The
first pig isolated with Swine Flu was in Iowa, United States (U.S.). The 2009 pandemic of the
Swine Flu was influenced by this time period because in 1933, the first epidemic of the Swine flu
was in London, in ferrets. In Mill Hill, scientists were running multiple studies on ferrets infected
with the Swine flu (Information on Swine Influenza). Surprisingly, when the ferret was given a
dose of the Swine Flu, it experienced the same symptoms the pig in Iowa experienced. However,
for those ferrets who were previously given a strain of the virus that was seen in humans, studies
showed that they were not immune to the Swine Flu from the pigs (1). This shocking discovery
proved that the two viruses had already began to evolve into two different viruses.
In the human body, white blood cells tend to fight any virus the best way it can. In this
case that would be the H1N1 flu. Those who were born after the first epidemic of the Swine Flu,
in 1918, most likely had a large immunity to the future epidemic of the Swine Flu that would
later hit in 2009. Unfortunately, those who were born after, did not have this immunity, making
this individual vulnerable to the sickness.
Leading up to the 2009 epidemic of Swine Flu, the Swine Flu wipes out a whole U.S.
army recruit in 1976 (Timeline: The Secret History of Swine). Thankfully, this small outbreak of
the Flu did not make it past the army base but by word of mouth, the flu had an impact on
society. As a result, over 48 million people got vaccinated to prevent from getting this flu
because many individuals feared the repeat of the 1918 outbreak.
By 1998, the Swine Flu evolved into a mix of the human, bird, and Swine Flu
(Information on Swine Influenza). To an individual that is very frightening and unfortunate news
to hear, that’s why the The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) didn’t say a word
to the public. This strain of flu became the dominant strain of flu in pigs as its presence began to
increase dramatically. The Swine Flu now has officially invaded the U.S. once more.
Pig farms began to decrease because of the pigs becoming so sick and dying. Many
farmers had no idea what to do, so they shot up every single pig with a vaccine they thought
would eliminate the disease, but it didn’t (Information on Swine Influenza). Little did they know,
this only made matters worse. Because the virus has the ability to evolve rapidly, it took in the
vaccines that was once used to kill them and instead the bacteria used it as a shield to stay alive.
The bacteria eventually became resistant to many vaccines overtime. Because of this small
outbreak in pigs, researchers took the opportunity to study the causes, effects, and symptoms of
the disease in hope to find a cure and fast acting vaccine.
As 2009 approached, the Swine Flu was still being extensively researched. In the years of
2007 and 2009, scientists were going around the world to track down wild birds and or pigs who
had this disease in order to try and track the evolution of the virus (Information on Swine
Influenza). Some countries paired up with U.S. scientists, but others refused to play any part in
the research.
Finally, in March of 2009, the Swine Flu infected humans in both Texas and California
and by April 27, 2009, nine hundred cases of the Swine Flu are reported in Mexico (Timeline:
The Secret History of Swine). On that very date, the World Health Organization (WHO)
recognizes this pandemic as more than just a Flu virus, but a viral outbreak that will later kill
thousands of people. Scientists scrambled to understand this virus and extensively study the virus
in order to come up with an appropriate vaccine. Traveling to Mexico is then ceased to prevent
the virus from spreading further across the United States, but that does not stop it at all. Although
the virus seems to be spreading slowly, the evolution occurs so fast that scientists can not seem
to find the correct vaccine. By the second wave, many third world countries, such as the poorer
parts of Mexico, are dramatically affected as it killed many individuals.
In September of 2009, pharmaceutical companies claimed they had found a vaccine and
claimed it worked in just one shot (Timeline: The Secret History of Swine). Unfortunately, by
this time, two thousand individuals have died (Swine Flu). The pharmaceutical company made
approximately 27 million vaccines which will only decrease the second wave of the epidemic by
about 6 percent (1). The virus becomes out of hand to the point where President Barack Obama
“declares the virus a national emergency” bringing many countries to understand this fatal
epidemic (Knox).
The whole world was affected by this 2009 epidemic, especially third world countries
with dense populations. Because this disease was very contagious in the beginning stages of the
those who became infected, studies show that the outbreak affected those in poorer countries and
in poorer communities. Thankfully, through the widespread of the vaccine and the rapid
processing of it, the numbers of those who were infected went down and the future numbers of it
would decline significantly. Millions of people by now who have received the vaccine have built
an immunity, allowing them to fight the next widespread epidemic of the Swine Flu virus.
The seriousness of the Swine Flu is at an all time high. As populations in every country
continuously grow, the people in an area have also become very dense allowing viruses, the
Swine Flu in particular, to be easily passed from one individual to another. An individual might
know they have succumbed to the Swine Flu if symptoms such as “fever, cough, sore throat,
runny nose, body aches, headache, chills, and fatigue” were to appear (DeNoon). In more
extreme cases, the symptom, diarrhea and vomiting are also present. The person with the Swine
Flu may appear tired and flushed, meaning they are very worn out. Since the virus is taking up
all of the individual’s energy, the individual has no energy for themselves. Most of the time, the
individual will not be seen out of their house because of the seriousness and how easy it is to
spread the virus.
Solutions to the widespread of this epidemic have been heavily researched. The amount
of studies done is truly outstanding with results that blow the minds of people. Researchers have
also come up with the most important factors for when it comes to preventing the flu on an
individual (Scientists Reveal Novel Drug Delivery Approach to Fight Swine Flu at Gene Level)
Factors such as, staying away from pigs, receiving immunizations, and most importantly,
washing your hands.
In an article named “Scientists Reveal Novel Drug Delivery Approach to Fight Swine Flu
at Gene Level” researchers state that they have discovered “a new approach to deliver antiviral
RNAi to target cells against H1N1 influenza virus infection” (Scientists Reveal Novel Drug
Delivery Approach to Fight Swine Flu at Gene Level). What this means is that scientists have
found a way to attack the bad DNA of the virus in the body of a human by creating a small
capsule that completes a big job. Although the capsule may not look like much, it is very
complex with a layer by layer technique that has the ability to decrease the presence of the H1N1
virus in a human body. Taking this pill resulted in an 80% decrease of virus DNA diminishing in
the tested subject (2).
The next solution for scientists was to actually “train” the human body to recognize the
foreign invader and quickly kill it, which can also be referred to as training the immune system.
Scientists in London from multiple research facilities came together and discussed this deadly
virus and another possible solution to killing the virus if the capsule part of research did not help
everyone in the world (Scientists Reveal Novel Drug Delivery Approach to Fight Swine Flu at
Gene Level). Since everyone is different, scientists said that they were going to focus on trying
to get human body's ability to increase the production of “interferons (proteins that make our
body immune to the virus) faster” (2).
Next the scientists used “short interfering RNA, which interact with matrix RNA
(mRNA) of the influenza virus. This leads to degradation of "viral" RNA, preventing its
translation on ribosomes into a protein encoded by it, thereby reducing the viral gene expression”
(Scientists Reveal Novel Drug Delivery Approach to Fight Swine Flu at Gene Level). To better
elaborate on this part of the research, scientists basically gave the subject a piece of the virus, but
not too much because then that could actually cause the subject to become sick and that was not
what the scientists were going for. Once the subject received the small strain of H1N1 virus, the
goal was to allow the body to recognize and remember what the DNA looked like. The subject's’
immune system did its job and recognized the virus and immediately began to degrade the RNA
Camus’s thoughts on this Swine Flu epidemic would not be very caring. If death were to
hit hard in the presence of Camus, he would say, based on his idea of absurdism, that death was
inevitable and there is no way you can truly escape it. On the idea of scientists and researchers
scrambling around to find a strong vaccine, Camus would think it was truly absurd to waste time
on such a thing. Although Camus is no longer living and can give a statement on this social
epidemic, based on his statements about social existence and absurdism itself, his thoughts
would be quite clear that he would not live in fear of the H1N1 virus.
Camus’s thoughts on the outcome of the epidemic would not differ from his thoughts on
the epidemic alone. He would probably state that researchers and scientists are “wasting their
time” trying to make a vaccine for the infected and for the healthy. It seems that Camus really
did not believe in the wellbeing of people, almost like he did not care if people began to die
because their “existence was purposeless” (Absurdity and the Meaning of Life).
The epidemic of the Swine Flu is very important. Everyone is at risk. Society and our
government should take this epidemic more serious than they already do, because it not only
affects the person as an individual but in the worst case scenario, death is what will hurt family
and friends. This epidemic is not something that should just be thrown to the side and ignored, it
should be faced and defeated. Yes, there is no way you can actually kill a virus indefinitely, but
you can decrease the number of people who will cease to exist if the people don’t take action.
People need to follow basic health procedures when it comes to prevention of the Swine
Flu. The world must understand what it takes to live a healthy and safe life free of the swine flu
by receiving immunizations, washing their hands, and participating and encouraging a more
efficient way to end the widespread of the H1N1 virus.
Brittany Hodges
English 1302
Professor Hammett
Spring 2017
Works Cited
Absurdity and the Meaning of Life. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2017.
DeNoon, Daniel J., and Miranda Hitti. "Swine Flu FAQ." WebMD. WebMD, n.d. Web. 16 Apr.
2017.
"H1N1 Flu | H1N1 | Swine Flu | MedlinePlus." MedlinePlus Trusted Health Information for You.
N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.
"Information on Swine Influenza/Variant Influenza Virus." Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 30 Nov. 2016. Web. 06 Mar.
2017.
Knox, Richard. "2009 Flu Pandemic Was 10 Times More Deadly Than Previously
Thought."NPR. NPR, 26 Nov. 2013. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.
"Swine Flu (H1N1 Flu)." Mayo Clinic. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.
"Timeline: The Secret History of Swine Flu." New Scientist. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.
"Scientists Reveal Novel Drug Delivery Approach to Fight Swine Flu at Gene Level."
news-medical.net N.p., 28 Mar. 2017. Web. 13 Apr. 2017.
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