H1N1 Swine Flu Experts Warn Against Deadly New H1N1 Virus Trend – Flu Parties

H1N1 Swine Flu experts are warning of a deadly new trend among people in fear of an H1N1 Swine Flu Pandemic on its way in the USA.
Its called a ‘Swine Flu Party’ and is so-named because of a common practice, a ‘Pox Party’ held by parents to expose their kids to chicken pox in hopes of raising the children’s resistance to the chicken pox at a later date. However, this approach is not recommended, say H1N1 Swine Flu experts like Dr. William Schaffner, a h1n1 swine flu flu expert at Vanderbilt University.

It seems logical: Why not try to get sick with swine flu now, and get some immunity in case it comes roaring back this fall in a deadlier form? Sort of like those “pox parties” to get your kids exposed to a childhood disease.

Bad idea, flu experts say. It’s too risky.

It’s true that once your body has encountered a particular virus strain, it is generally better able to fight it off later on. Vaccines work by masquerading as germs, priming the immune system to attack particular bugs.

The current swine flu appears no deadlier than ordinary flu, but scientists worry that it could return in a more lethal form during the regular flu season in fall and winter. That’s what happened in the deadly pandemic of 1918, and there’s evidence that people who got sick earlier that year had protection when the lethal wave came.

This new trend is questioned by one doctor, who warns that people cannot control the type of H1N1 Swine Flu infection they are likely to get.

“I understand the logic (but it) leads you astray,” said Dr. William Schaffner, a flu expert at Vanderbilt University.

He said there’s no way to predict how bad a case of flu will be in a particular person. Given the risk of life-threatening complications, “this is not something where you want to do a biological experiment,” he said.

“You can’t control the infection that you’re going to get, and you may be the one, or your child may be the one, that gets a severe infection.”

What’s more, a person who decides to get sick can accidentally pass it along to other, more vulnerable people, even before any symptoms show up, he said.

The United States has reported 403 laboratory confirmed human cases, including one death.