No need to be alarmed by rumours of swine flu

KANPUR: The residents of the city need not be alarmed due to scare of swine flu. Various health agencies and doctors in the city are of the view that there are least chances that swine flu would in any way be a threat to the city or even India as a whole.
Talking to TOI, Anurag Singh, senior doctor with Kanpur Municipal Corporation said, "The virus H1N1, which is behind swine flu, is not very effective in the tropical climate of our country.With summer conditions prevailing here and temperature ranging between 40 degrees celsius to 45 degrees celsius, chances are even lesser for its survival. In cooler climes of Western hemisphere, it has better chances to breed but not here."
Swine flu spreads through spitting, coughing, sneezing, hand to hand contact and by using objects of the individuals who are infected by the disease. Its common symptoms are high fever, body ache, restlessness and pneumonia.
Singh said, "But we are taking precautionary measures. Recently, we had convened a meeting of all those persons who own pigs in the city. In the meeting, we had asked them to not to leave the animal outside and in case pig shows any signs of ill-health, they should immediately report to us."
According to estimates available with veterinary department of Kanpur Municipal Corporation, there are about 1 lakh pigs in the city.
Till now, World Health Organisation has confirmed about 1,125 cases of swine flu across the globe. The disease which originated in Mexico has taken a toll of 26 lives in 21 countries.
Similarly, the health department is prepared to fight the rumours about the swine flu more than the disease itself. Talking to TOI, Dr V N Tripathi, medical suprintendent, LLR said, "We are ready to counter the menace. But our thrust is more on educating the masses not to panic."
On Thursday, Clinical Society of India is holding a symposium in city on swine flu to deliberate about counter-measures and how to avoid the rumours.
Apart from that all para-medical staff and doctors have been asked to deal with any such cases or cases having similar traits cautiously. Dr Tripathi said, "All the para-medical staff has been asked to cover themselves with protective face-mask, hand gloves and body gowns while dealing with such cases."
Tripathi added, "If any such case comes to light, the blood samples of the patient will be sent to NICD (National Institute of Communicable Diseases) in Delhi."
Who all are easy prey to this virus? To this, Dr Tripathi replied, "Anybody can be infected after coming in contact with the virus. But children with not so developed immune system are most vulnerable to it. Pork-eaters are another category which has high chances of getting the disease."
Medical experts also say that with almost negligible influx of foreign tourists in the city, the chances are even bleaker that the disease will spread in the city.