Swine flu is not that contagious: scientists
Source: Agencies |
January 1, 2010, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
HOW contagious is swine flu? Less than the novel viruses that have caused big world outbreaks in the past, new research suggests.
If someone in your home has swine flu, your odds of catching it are about one in eight, although children are twice as susceptible as adults, the study found. It is one of the first big scientific attempts to find out how much the illness spreads in homes versus at work or school, and who is most at risk.
The study was done by outbreak specialists from Imperial College London and from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Results are in yesterday's New England Journal of Medicine.
Swine flu has sickened an estimated one-sixth of Americans since the novel virus was first identified in April. The second wave of cases now seems to have peaked, and health experts do not know if another surge lies ahead.
People with swine flu are advised to stay home for at least a day after their fever goes away by itself to avoid spreading illness. That puts family members at risk, but who is vulnerable?
About 60 percent of swine flu cases have been in children, but researchers wondered: are they truly more likely to get swine flu, or just more likely to be taken to a doctor and tested for it? Are they more likely to spread the virus than adults?
Researchers studied infection patterns in 216 people with swine flu from around the United States and 600 people living with them.
Respiratory illnesses that researchers assumed were swine flu developed in 78 of the 600 household members, or 13 percent.
If someone in your home has swine flu, your odds of catching it are about one in eight, although children are twice as susceptible as adults, the study found. It is one of the first big scientific attempts to find out how much the illness spreads in homes versus at work or school, and who is most at risk.
The study was done by outbreak specialists from Imperial College London and from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Results are in yesterday's New England Journal of Medicine.
Swine flu has sickened an estimated one-sixth of Americans since the novel virus was first identified in April. The second wave of cases now seems to have peaked, and health experts do not know if another surge lies ahead.
People with swine flu are advised to stay home for at least a day after their fever goes away by itself to avoid spreading illness. That puts family members at risk, but who is vulnerable?
About 60 percent of swine flu cases have been in children, but researchers wondered: are they truly more likely to get swine flu, or just more likely to be taken to a doctor and tested for it? Are they more likely to spread the virus than adults?
Researchers studied infection patterns in 216 people with swine flu from around the United States and 600 people living with them.
Respiratory illnesses that researchers assumed were swine flu developed in 78 of the 600 household members, or 13 percent.
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