21/02/2015
Swine Flu Is Here, But Here's How It Can Be Easily Tackled
Swine flu has been making the news because of the deaths that have happened. But here we are, requesting you to calm down. Because you are not going to die. There are some really easy things to follow to prevent the disease. Believe it or not, but there have been cases of people where they have recovered from the disease absolutely fine. To begin with, you need to stop yourself from falling into the trap of these five myths.
1. Swine Flu cannot be cured.
Of course, it can. Taking the anti-viral drug Oseltamivir, popularly available under the name Tamiflu shortens the duration of illness and keeps it under control. However, it should be taken within 48 hours from when the symptoms start appearing. This medicine will make you less contagious and reduce infection.
2. India is falling short of drugs.
No, it isn't. India has 60,000 adult doses of Oseltamivir along with 1,000 doses of Paediatric syrup. Also, pharmaceutical companies like Hetero, Natco and Strides Acrolab can even produce these medicines at short notice.
3. You suffer from Swine Flu only once in your life.
The H1N1 virus is similar to a seasonal virus and can re-infect you. Especially if you come in contact with contagious people too often. One can always go for vaccination that offers one year protection against the virus.
4. Swine Flu happens after eating pork.
That is definitely not true. The H1N1 spreads through droplets in the air from already infected people.
5. The swine flu virus has been mutated.
India's two prominent labs - National Institute of Virology Pune and National Centre of Disease Control, Delhi, showed a week back, that the virus has not been mutated.
Symptoms of swine flu include fever over 101 for more than 3 days, extreme breathlessness, chest pain while breathing, laziness, loss of appetite and nausea.
You can protect yourself by staying away from contagious people, frequently washing hands with soap and cleaning surfaces with disinfectants.
People with respiratory disorders, compromised immunity because of cancer or uncontrolled diabetes, pregnant women, children under the age of 5 and people aged 50 years or more are high at risk.
In the mean time, follow these principles and you'll be okay. Please don't panic.
