10. ARE SOME AT HIGHER RISK THEN OTHERS? Yes. The elderly and infants are most affected by this. They have a tendency to get secondary pneumonias, because their resistance is a bit less.

9. WHAT ARE THE SYMTOMS OF THE SWINE FLU? Runny nose cough, headache, and also a lot of body aches, and a relatively low grade fever, a hundred a hundred and one.

8. DOES EVERYONE WHO GETS SWINE FLU DEVELOP A FEVER? No. Many people get by without it, especially if you've taken some Tylenol because you won't have a fever that you can measure.

7. DO PEOPLE DIE OF SWINE FLU, OR FROM RELATED COMPLICATIONS? It's possible that people can die from massive viral pneumonia caused by swine flu, but that's not usually the case. Often times there's a secondary bacterial infection and that's why if people get sicker they should be seen by a physician or clinician for treatment of a secondary infection.

6. IF I CATCH SWINE FLU, HOW LONG WILL I BE SICK? You should start feeling better in a few days, but the virus can stick around for weeks.

5. SHOULD I AVOID CROWDS? Only those people that have any type of symptoms or have been exposed to people with symptoms. They should stay home.

4. IF ONE PERSON IN MY FAMILY GETS SWINE FLU, WILL EVERYONE IN THE HOUSE GET SICK? Swine flu is very contagious. Not many people if anybody has specific antibodies to this strain of influenza so the chances of it spreading in households is very high.

3. IF I CAN'T AFFORD TAMIFLU, CAN I GET IT FOR FREE FROM THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT? Not everyone in the community who is sick with influenza-like illness has swine flu, and most ill people have mild illness and do not need treatment. If someone is hospitalized or has underlying medical conditions that put them up at risk for complications from influenza; if we were working with a confirmed case of swine flu, and they meet the CDC recommendations for treatment with an antiviral, the health department would provide it to them. Tamiflu doesn’t cure the illness. It shortens the course; it shortens the severity of the symptoms.

2. IF I DON'T HAVE INSURANCE AND I BECOME ILL, WHAT SHOULD I DO? Take things that relieve the symptoms such as non-stroydal anti-inflammatories like ibuprofin, or aspirin if you are an adult, or Tylenol. Aspirin should never be given to children with a fever. And stay home and try not to infect anybody else. If your symptoms get worse, go to a free clinic.

1. IS SWINE FLU MORE DANGEROUS THEN THE ORDINARY FLU? It doesn't appear to be any more dangerous. It causes mostly a mild flu like illness.