Swine flu tops the list of frequently asked questions at AQA 63336

"What are the symptoms of swine flu" is the most popular question texted in the UK to AQA 63336

20 July 2009

The UK's favourite and most accurate text question and answer service, AQA 63336, today reveals that since the beginning of July Brits are asking more questions about swine flu than any other subject. During July AQA 63336 also answered its 19 millionth question.

AQA 63336 has 1,000 trained researchers who are able to provide an answer within minutes to any question texted to 63336. So far this month they've had to answer thousands of swine flu questions from mobile phone users, ranging from the most popular "what are the symptoms of flu" to frequent "how many people have got swine flu in my town", to an occasional "is it ok to eat bacon?".

"At the beginning of this month, we were only getting 20 questions a day about swine flu, but questions have quadrupled in three weeks." said Paul Cockerton, Communications Director.

Recent questions about swine flu have included:

Q. What are the symptoms of swine flu?

A. Symptoms of swine flu are similar but generally more severe than normal flu: fever, cough, sore throat, nausea & diarrhoea. It's treated with antiviral drugs.

Q. Why is it called swine flu?

A. Swine, as in pig, flu originated from a recombination of pig and human influenza in Mexico, forming a new version of the H1N1 strain.

Q. How many people die from normal flu each year in the UK?

A. There are 3–4,000 'normal' flu–related deaths per year in the UK, and around 400,000 worldwide. Only 1% of people who catch it die from it.

Q. Is it ok to eat bacon?

A. You can't catch swine flu from eating bacon. The virus is destroyed by cooking. It is spread by contact with live animals or people with the virus.

The 19 millionth question, asked 10.35am on 8th July 2009 was "Is west eaton house in leominster a care home for the elderley?" AQA 63336 replied with "West Eaton House is a nursing home. It is 2 miles south east of the market town of Leominster in the county of Herefordshire."

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