By Lubna Abdel-Aziz Bent and broken Luis Gutierrez climbed up the stairs one more time and gazed at his sickly wife. Adela was only 39, strong and active, with a cast-iron constitution. How can a simple flu make her so sick! With her grave condition Adela was admitted into intensive care at Oaxaca's State Hospital in Mexico. She died a few days later, the first fatality of the not -so- simple flu strain of swine flu virus, H1N1, now spreading across the globe. It has been called many things -- swine flu, Mexican flu, pig influenza, now H1N1. Call it what you will, it is a perturbing, petrifying, pesky pestilence that threatens the human race every few years. They call it swine flu because it is structured like Type A virus, a respiratory disease that usually infects pigs. The emergence of this flu infects humans living in close proximity with pigs. But Adela Gutierrez never came near a pig. The virus mutated making it easier to spread from human to human. Known as "the greatest medical holocaust in history," this unique virus had the audacity to return to earth in the 21st century after having wiped out almost 5% of the human race early last century (1918-1919). For a whole year the H1N1 flu pandemic created havoc infecting hundreds of millions and killing tens of millions. The total mortality is not known exactly. Older estimates of 50 million have been updated recently to 100 million deaths. What a woeful waste of time, if during one century of rapidly advancing medical technology, we find ourselves still threatened by the same one hundred year old virus strain. When can we expect science to break the chains of man's slavery to a pesky micro-mini, teeny virus? All we get are warnings and descriptions of depressing details from the lips of perplexed men of medicine, as if it is up to us to do the work that they have been incapable of doing. The World Health Organization (WHO) brought little comfort when it raised the pandemic level to phase 5 out of 6, which was the ranking of the 1918 pandemic. Panic fills our hearts as we sit and wait for the unwelcome visitor. Commonly referred to as 'the flu,' the influenza virus is an RNA Orthomyxoviridae, which comprises five Genera: A, B, C, Isavirus, and thogotovirus. The word 'influenza' comes from the Italian language which ascribed the illness to 'unfavorable astrological influences.' With the help of scientific data, the name was modified to 'influenza del freddo,' or 'cold influenza.' The British, as they are wont to do, anglicized the word and its pronunciation during an outbreak of the disease in Europe in 1743. 'Spanish flu' was the name given to the devastating pandemic of 1918 -- H1N1, but the disease has plagued mankind for thousands of years. Hippocrates described its symptoms, roughly 2,400 years ago, but because its resemblance to other diseases such as plague, typhoid fever, diphtheria, pneumonia, or typhus the historical data is difficult to interpret. Although it is the Spanish flu that is graven on our memory with hundreds dropping like flies daily, other flu pandemics preceded it. An outbreak in Russia in 1580 spread like wildfire through Europe killing 8000 in Rome and wiping out several Spanish towns. Pandemics continue to pester the human race, infecting at will with no prejudices, of faith, fancy creed or age. Striking blindly, the virus leaves traces of killing fields, reminding us of its unquestioned strength and our useless vanity. Science must have the answer that will save the human race from those flu outbreaks that occur 3 times every century. So before we reach phase 6, what we get is the usual precautionary measures that the great men of science recommend: wash your hands regularly, cover your nose and mouth when you cough or sneeze, avoid spitting, avoid crowded places like schools, churches, theatres, malls, etc. Those hygiene habits sound vaguely familiar -- I know I've heard them before. Ah yes! My grandmother regularly repeated these instructions. Are we not to expect more from 21st century medical science? How powerful can this influenza virus be, that it defies mankind at will? When all is said and done, can little man do nothing against mighty nature which often finds him dispensable? Wise or foolish, are we to succumb to nature's will that manifests itself in forms of pandemics, tsunamis, earthquakes, fires, or floods, reminding us regularly of how helpless, how needless, how useless we are! There is need for calm however. The rapid spread has leveled off and the virus seems milder than previously thought. It lacks an amino acid that allows it to spread faster in the human body. It is unknown why so many deaths occurred in Mexico, yet the strain proved rather benign in Canada. While the slaughter of 300,000 pigs in Egypt enraged animal lovers worldwide, it was a precautionary measure, wisely taken by the authorities for both sanitary and aesthetic reasons. Pig farms were never banned in Egypt, and neither was the consumption of pork, but the conditions of the pig farms were deplorable and found in close proximity to residential areas in the city and nearby suburbs. Did not the British slaughter their mad cows when stricken with "mad cow" disease? Millions of birds were annihilated with the threat of the Avian flu. The decision makes good and common sense, which we definitely need more of. In this dim and foggy blur, here is a piece of good news to cheer you up: you can enjoy your pork, free of any worry. The swine flu is not making pigs sick, it is making humans sick. Be more wary of your sneezing neighbour rather than your honey baked ham! Questions remain as to why this flu is allowed to barge in so savagely and intrude on our already troubled lives. We are burdened enough with the economic crisis and challenged daily with duties and responsibilities. We do not underrate nature, but neither should nature underrate us. Our primary instincts, our own love of life, and our ability to survive, speaks volumes for the unquestionable strength of the human spirit. The flu virus will breathe its last before we do. That is our faith and also our fate. It is part of the cure, to wish to be cured -- Lucius Annaeus Seneca (3BC -- 65AD)
