You already may have had swine flu

It appears some people are taking the constant warnings about swine flu seriously.

Little do they know, they already may have caught it.

This mostly mild influenza strain, called H1N1, has been spreading across the nation since April. Health officials say some of those infected have had such light symptoms they may have dismissed them as little more than a stuffy nose or fatigue.

Those who have been infected with the virus vary from people with no obvious symptoms to the relative few who have died from flu-related illnesses.

It’s those with the mildest symptoms who most need to heed the warnings - washing hands, covering their mouths when coughing, staying home from work and school. Although they may not feel lousy, they’re carrying a virus that by some estimates will infect three times the number of people who get sick in an average flu season.

If an average flu season is any indication, roughly 80 percent of swine flu sufferers might not need to see the doctor for their symptoms.

“There are probably people who have swine flu with no fever and just a stuffy nose,“ said Doug Holt, Hillsborough County, Fla., Health Department director. “If we can keep most of them out, it helps.“

Few have immunities

Swine flu is similar in many ways to the seasonal flu virus, with one significant exception: Roughly 60 percent of the population has immunities built up against seasonal flu, but only 10 percent - mostly people over 65 - has immunities to fight the H1N1 strain. That’s because H1N1 in this form has not been seen in the United States since 1957.

In a traditional flu season, about 7 percent of the population gets infected. A mild pandemic, as the World Health Organization considers swine flu to be, could more than triple those numbers. With that rise comes an increase in deaths among those most susceptible to the virus, more children missing school and businesses struggling to cover for absent workers.

Nationwide, an estimated 36,000 people die each year from seasonal flu symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That translates into about 140 deaths each year in Hillsborough County. Under the mild pandemic model, the local number of deaths for seasonal and swine flu could reach 625, Holt said.

Health departments and the media rarely announce seasonal flu deaths, primarily because they have become routine. That only adds to the sense of panic surrounding the swine flu estimates.

The CDC has issued weekly swine flu updates since late April, reporting confirmed cases, hospitalizations and deaths. Holt said the reports reflect only “the tip of the iceberg” of swine flu’s impact. There’s no organized form of tracking the virus, and what there is catches only the most severe cases, he said.

World and national health agencies adjusted the way they report cases twice this summer. What can be recorded with certainty is deaths: 3,000 worldwide and more than 600 in the United States.

The percentage of people dying from seasonal or swine flu may be small, but it doesn’t diminish the heartbreak, said Juan Dumois, director of pediatric infectious diseases at All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla. That’s especially true as this illness appears to target young children and pregnant women.

“When a child dies of the flu, when anyone dies, it’s a tragedy,“ Dumois said.

Like a hurricane

Without hard data, health officials acknowledge it’s hard to persuade people to take precautions, specifically getting immunized against symptoms that include a fever of 100 degrees or higher, sore throat, dry cough and some achiness.

The seasonal flu vaccine is available, and a swine flu vaccine will be distributed beginning next month; at-risk people will get it first.

Officials urge anyone eligible for seasonal and swine flu vaccines to get them. Doing so increases the share of the population with immunity to each virus.

“Be proactive. You add protection, just like putting up shutters when a hurricane comes,“ said Cora Christian, a Virgin Islands physician and member of the AARP board of directors.

Seasonal flu usually is a fall and winter concern, but swine flu spread through the summer and at a higher rate than expected. Holt said the peak is likely still months away based on reports from pediatricians and obstetricians and on lower-than-expected illness in schools so far.

That makes it more important for those who have had a mild case of either swine or seasonal flu to pay attention now.

Unless lab tests confirm you have had a specific type of flu, there’s no way to know you won’t get it again. Few people are being tested for the swine flu strain because their symptoms don’t warrant costly lab tests, Holt said.

Those who think they can tough out the symptoms are risking the health of others, he said.

“If you have any regard for other people in your life, you should take it more seriously than in the past.“