Last month, the RYSE Center Health and Wellness Team set out on a mission: to truly inform their peers about H1N1 (swine flu) through a wide range of media platforms. When they were finished, youth would not worry about petting pigs at the zoo, instead, they would know when and where to get vaccinated. Using online-and-offline quizzes and games, video, audio, and research reporting, the youth truly showed what it takes to educate and entertain in an evolving world of media.
Edu-tainment on staying safe from H1N1, starring William Haynes as William Haynes, and William Haynes as Jaddy Mack (click here). In this video, William teaches Johnny Mack that swine flu does not, in fact, come from direct contact with swine (live pigs) itself.
More edu-tainment on staying safe from H1N1, starring different RYSE Center youth who came together (click here) from the Media Arts Program (to provide 16 bars of rap verse) and the Health and Wellness Program (to provide personal testimony about their research) to learn about the disease.
What is H1N1? It is a Type A influenza, also known as swine influenza, or the 2009 H1N1 virus. It is a virus endemic in pigs (belonging exclusively or confined to a particular place involving pigs) and indeed, people regularly exposed to pigs can be at great risk of getting infected. However, infected pigs' meat cannot transmit virus if it is well-cooked.
How did it become well-known? H1N1 was first detected in the United States in April 2009. People get it from other people and not pigs. The virus evolves over time as it spreads from person-to-person, without having contact with pigs. The newer strains involve genes of swine, bird, and human flu viruses.
What are the symptoms? H1N1 symptoms are similar to flu symptoms, but it can be more severe. They include: fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, body aches, headache, chills, fatigue, diarrhea, and vomiting. Most people have at least two of these symptoms. These symptoms don't mean that you have the swine flu. The only way to be sure is by having a lab test done. Affected children can be seriously affected and fatal symptoms in children include: seizures, changes in mental status (confusion, sudden cognitive and behavorial changes) perhaps caused by Reye's syndrome, which occurs in children with viral illnesses who have taken aspirin.
How does swine flu spread? Like regular flu, picking up germs from an infected person. The virus is either airborne, or physically touching a surface. Infected people can spread the flu germs before their own symptoms start. It spreads from person-to-person and not from pigs.
How can it be treated? Sensitive to Tamiflu and Relenza, which are most effective when taken 48 hours from the start of symptoms. Peramivir is used for hospitalized patients with severe flu. Most that come down with flu can fully recover without anti-viral treatment. People who have died of H1N1 already had a high risk, with bacterial infections and pneumococcal infections.
Is there a vaccine? Yes, and it comes in a shot or a spray. Children ages 10+ need just one dose of the vaccine, and within eight days, the protection begins. Children under 10 need two doses, three weeks apart.
How can I prevent myself from getting infected? Wash hands regularly with water and soap, and alcohol-based hand gel. Avoid close contact with people who have flu symptons, avoid touching your own nose, mouth, and eyes, and stay at home until your symptoms are gone.
How long does the flu virus survive on surfaces? Based on one study, it can survive for 48 hours on hard, nonporous surfaces like stainless steel, and 12 hours on cloth and tissue. Having a previous flu vaccine does not protect against the swine flu. The swine flu is different in many ways.
Websites referenced: flu.gov, webmd.com
Written by: Maikka Marshall and Daisy Santizo
For the past month the health and wellness team has been focused on H1N1. At first, i thought to myself "well.. there isn't much to know about H1N1, it's probably over by now.." But I was wrong. LaShonda told me to go online and just research the swine flu. It wasn't easy. Most websites had only the "myths" that everyone knew about. For example, like, the swine flu came from pigs, and everyone who got it was going to die, and there was no cure, etc. So I decided to look more in depth. And information started coming up that was leaving me in awe. So we worked from there. Gathering information and then doing projects such as being at Juneteenth, and activities in the center. Throughout this whole process I was not only learning about H1N1 but skills I needed as well. This experience was not what i was expecting at the beginning of it. I imagined having to learn boring stuff about a disease that had ceased already. But it was the total opposite. I learned interesting information, and realized that this disease is still out there. I found out about clinics that provided shots, and that there was even a shot for the H1N1. It was a long month and time flew by. Now it is the end of the project and I find myself feeling great because we will still be focusing on health and I can still find out new things.
— Daisy Santizo
Life skill quizzes —
How Much Do You Know About the Swine Flu? Find out now!