With swine flu taking a toll on a number of people in the nation, doctors are of the opinion that those who are not seriously ill or do not have any pre existing ailments like COPD , asthma, pneumonia or cancer can be taken care of at home by being quarantined in a room. While this is one way to lower the patient load on hospitals that are quickly running short of beds, it also brings into focus the need for precautions to be taken by people tending to the ailing.
With swine flu taking a toll on a number of people in the nation, doctors are of the opinion that those who are not seriously ill or do not have any pre existing ailments like COPD , asthma, pneumonia or cancer can be taken care of at home by being quarantined in a room. While this is one way to lower the patient load on hospitals that are quickly running short of beds, it also brings into focus the need for precautions to be taken by people tending to the ailing.
We spoke to Dr Vineet Arora, senior consultant, Internal medicine, Max Super Specialty Hospital, Delhi about how caretakers should prevent contracting swine flu.
Dr Arora says, ‘It is essential that all healthcare workers and those caring for people at home take proper precautions to prevent contracting and spreading the disease to the others in the family.’Here are a few tips he gave.
Get vaccinated: Vaccination is an important step especially for those providing home care for people with swine flu. But unfortunately the vaccine takes effect only after 15 days so in the mean while they should be extra careful to avoid getting infected.
Have the swine flu medication: Those who have close contact with the patient can be prescribed the swine flu medicines in a prophylactic dose. This is a daily dose of one capsule of ostelmavir per day for seven days. That being said the medicine should be prescribed by a physician and people should not self-medicate.
Use the N95 masks: This mask is a specially made to prevent the entry of the swine flu virus into their nose and mouth.
Frequent hand washings: They should make sure they wash their hands well with water and soap regularly and use tissues to wipe off the excess water. It is best the caretaker also avoid touching his/her eyes, mouth and nose with unclean hands as this is the quickest way to contract the virus.
Maintain proper preventive measures: Caretakers should make sure they take all the required precautions while tending to the patient. They must also ensure that the patient is completely isolated and none of the things he/she has used be shared by others in the family. Apart from that they should make sure they disinfect their hands before and after they leave the patient’s room. For this purpose using an alcohol based hand sanitizer is absolutely perfect. The bottle should have a nozzel that prevents further contamination of the outer surface of the container. (Read: Swine flu symptoms and signs you MUST be aware of!)
Teach the patient about hygiene: An important step to prevent the spread of swine flu is to teach the patient proper hygiene measures during their illness. The caretaker should tell them yo cover their mouth when they could or sneeze and use tissues instead of handkerchiefs. Apart from this their clothes should be washed in warm to hot water and dried using hot air. They should also not touch items in the house that others are likely to use or touch and make sure they wash their hands well before they come in contact with any other person. (Read: 15 precautions every Indian should take to prevent swine flu)
Do not discontinue treatment and continue quarantine for 10 days: A patient suffering from swine flu usually recovers in about seven days like a normal flu, but in the case of swine flu a patient may suffer from more prolonged cough and therefore he/she should be quarantined for about 7-10 days. More importantly they should not discontinue their treatment just because they feel better. I recommend is that until the cough is completely gone or as long as the patient has cough, the caretaker should take precautions to prevent contracting the infection.
Originally published on www.thehealthsite.com
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