{"id":878,"date":"2009-07-09T13:55:51","date_gmt":"2009-07-09T12:55:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.i-base.info\/qa\/?p=878"},"modified":"2021-11-22T12:17:16","modified_gmt":"2021-11-22T12:17:16","slug":"questions-about-hiv-and-swine-flu-in-the-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/qa\/878","title":{"rendered":"Questions about HIV and swine flu in the UK"},"content":{"rendered":"

NOTE: This page was updated on 06 August 2009 to reflect more recent information.<\/strong><\/p>\n

i-Base Q&A: swine flu and HIV in the UK<\/strong><\/p>\n


\nQ. What is swine flu?<\/strong>
\nA. Swine flu is a new strain of flu (influenza). The medical name for this strain is H1N1v. It has been called a ‘pandemic’ because of the speed with which it spread to many different countries in a short time.<\/p>\n

Q. Are HIV-positive people more at risk of catching swine-flu?<\/strong>
\nA. No. Generally, as with other strains of flu, having HIV does not increase your risk of catching swine flu.<\/p>\n

Q. Are HIV-positive people at risk of becoming more ill from swine flu?<\/strong>
\nA. Not generally. It may be more serious if you have a low CD4 count (less than 200 cells\/mm3). This is mainly because symptoms of other serious infections could be mistaken for flu. If you have a low CD4 count and flu symptoms please speak to your HIV clinic and mention this concern.
\n
\nQ. How is swine flu different from regular seasonal flu?<\/strong>
\nA. Because this is a new strain of flu virus, no-one is currently immune. Researchers are already working to produce a vaccine, and this may, or may not, be ready in time for the next flu season.<\/p>\n

Q. How is swine flu spread?<\/strong>
\nA. Swine flu is spread by person-to-person contact, just like regular flu – specifically through not covering your mouth when sneezing and not washing your hands.<\/p>\n

Catch-it, Bin-it, Kill-it.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Video campaign link<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Website text-based information<\/a><\/p>\n

Q. Will flu meds work in people who are HIV-positive?<\/strong>
\nA. Antiviral medications used to treat flu (for example, oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza ) will work in HIV-positive people. The main reson to take them is to reduce how infectious you are.<\/p>\n

Q. Will flu treatments interact with my HIV drugs?<\/strong>
\nA. There is a potential for interactions between Tamiflu, boosted PIs and some nukes (3TC, FTC and tenofovir) but the benefits outweigh this small risk. Your pharmacist will advise you on this. (* see reference link below)<\/p>\n

Q. When does seasonal flu occur?<\/strong>
\nA. The risk period for flu, including swine flu, is during the autumn and winter, especially from September to December.<\/p>\n

Q. What is the risk that this years’ flu will be swine flu and be more severe?<\/strong>
\nA. This is difficult to predict. Hopefully, there is only a small chance of such a serious outbreak this year.
\n
\nQ. What do I do if I think I have symptoms?<\/strong>
\nA. If you have internet access see:
\nwww.direct.gov.uk\/pandemicflu<\/a><\/p>\n

If you have symptoms call:
\n0800 15 13 100<\/p>\n

This is the number to access flu meds. You should get these if you are HIV-positive.<\/p>\n

Do not visit your GP, hospital or clinic unless you have been advised to.
\n
\nQ. Should I have the flu vaccine?<\/strong>
\nA. HIV-positive people are routinely recommended to have the seasonal flu vaccine. You need to be registered with a GP to get this and any new vaccinations. Your clinic can help with this or see:
\nwww.nhs.gov.uk<\/p>\n

Q. Will I still get my HIV meds?<\/strong>
\nA. If the flu outbrteak is severe this could limit routine services. To prepare for this keep AT LEAST ONE MONTH<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We compiled the following Q&As in response to the increased number of calls and emails about swine flu.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-topics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/qa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/qa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/qa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/qa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/qa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=878"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/qa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/qa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/qa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/qa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}