disease

The 2009 A (H1N1) is an acute respiratory disease of humans that appeared in 2009. The contamination is mainly by air, ie coughing and sneezing. The virus can survive for 8 to 48 hours in the open air, depending on the nature of the surface on which it rests. He caused an influenza epidemic in the months that followed his appearance. Given the scale of the epidemic, WHO described the pandemic as 11 June 20091. In August 2010, the world is entering the post-pandemic period according to WHO. However, it is only the alert, the virus is still circulating around the globe.

This disease is caused by a new influenza A virus subtype H1N1. This virus is different from those of seasonal flu, also type A-H1N1. Indeed, the virus contains genes from several known viruses of porcine, avian and human origins. According to Jean-Philippe Derenne, head of the pneumology department at the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital2, "The A / H1N1 virus can not be called swine flu because it is an inter-human flu. It has a very original structure in three parts, one porcine, the second avian, and the third human. The flu may have gone through the pig, but for now there is no evidence, and the virus has not yet been isolated in animals. ". This is a reassortant virus3.

Symptoms of the disease, which can last up to a week, are similar to those of seasonal flu and may include fever, sneezing, sore throat, cough, headache, muscle and joint pain. In general, the treatment is symptomatic, analogous to that practiced with respect to other influenza-like syndromes and essentially based on paracetamol4. For more severe cases, antiviral drugs, neuraminidase inhibitors such as oseltamivir or zanamivir, are prescribed5. A vaccine has been developed, and the population invited to be vaccinated by prevention campaigns.