The first swine flu death in the country, that of a 14-year-old girl from Pune, has set alarm bells ringing in Bangalore as in other parts of the country.
The first swine flu death in the country, that of a 14-year-old girl from Pune, has set alarm bells ringing in Bangalore as in other parts of the country.
The fact that the young girl had neither travelled abroad recently nor was in close contact with any swine flu victim has added to the apprehension and raised a number of questions.
So can you contract the H1N1 virus while enjoying a meal in a restaurant or while shopping in a mall? The answer probably is yes as being air-borne, H1N1 virus can spread very fast and in any location.
Hundreds of people land in the city everyday from abroad and when in a public place, we don’t really check if the person next to us has fever or cough.
What makes detection of this disease difficult is the fact that the symptoms are just same as common cold and flu. There are possibilities of H1N1 affected people developing pneumonia and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). If they are affected by ARDS, there is only 50% chance of survival, said doctors.
So what’s the solution? Dr Poornima Parthasarathy, Head, Infectious Diseases, Manipal Hospital, said, “Other than testing of nasal and throat swabs, there is no other way to confirm if a is a victim of common cold and fever or swine flu. However, that doesn’t mean that we can send all patients with cold, cough or sore throat for a swine flu screening. There is a risk factor, but we need to wait.”
While asking people not to panic, doctors admitted, that swine flu can turn out to be a threat to India. “It is not necessary that only people who have travelled abroad or are in contact with flu affected victims, are prone to developing this disease. We don’t know if the person sitting next to us in a public transport or in a cafeteria is in the incubation period of swine flu. Thus the government needs to gear up and doctors need to set higher index of suspicion, so that patients get proper and timely treatment,” said Dr Lloyd Nazarath, COO, Wockhardt Hospital.
Dr Nithin Singh, pediatrician, Lakeside Medical Centre and Hospital, said that if a child shows any flu like symptom now, parents should consult a doctor and the child should not be sent to school at least for a week.
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