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How Long After Exposure to Feel Symptoms of Swine Flu?

The H1N1 virus, also known as the swine flu, was initially detected in people in the United States in April of 2009. The World Health Organization declared it a pandemic on June 11, 2009. Laboratory tests revealed that many of the genes in the H1N1 virus were very similar to influenza viruses that normally occur in pigs in North America; thus it was dubbed the "swine flu." More studies revealed that this virus is quite different from the flu viruses that are usually seen in North American pigs.

  1. Symptoms

    • According to the CDC, swine flu sufferers have reported fever, chills, headache, cough, sore throat, runny nose, shortness of breath, myalgias (muscle soreness), arthralgias (joint pain), fatigue, vomiting and diarrhea. People who contract the swine flu are considered to be contagious from one day prior to seven days after the onset of the illness. This would be the period of time that the flu could be transmitted to someone else. The CDC based these figures on seasonal flu data because sufficient data was not yet available for the H1N1 virus.

    Transmission

    • The swine flu is believed to be spread the same way that the seasonal flu is spread. When an infected person sneezes or coughs, large-particle respiratory droplets carry the germs to a nearby susceptible person, who then contracts the virus. Contact with a contaminated surface is also believed to transmit the illness. All respiratory secretions and bodily fluids of H1N1 influenza sufferers are considered potentially infectious. According to this limited information provided by the CDC in late 2009, the incubation period is considered to be between one and seven days. However, an incubation period of one to four days is considered to be more likely. The incubation period begins when a person is exposed to the virus and ends at the onset of symptoms.

    High risk

    • Those who are considered to be at the highest risk for complications are children under 5 and adults over 65 years of age; people under 18 who are receiving long-term aspirin therapy and may be at risk for experiencing Reye syndrome after an influenza virus infection; pregnant women; residents of nursing homes; and those with chronic pulmonary, cardiovascular, hepatic, hematological, neurologic, neuromuscular, metabolic or immunosuppression disorders.

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