{"id":41469,"date":"2015-02-23T18:06:16","date_gmt":"2015-02-23T12:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/?p=41469"},"modified":"2016-02-02T15:41:12","modified_gmt":"2016-02-02T10:11:12","slug":"swine-flu-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/india\/swine-flu-update","title":{"rendered":"Swine Flu Continues to Ravage India"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/health\/swine-flu-update\/attachment\/swine-flu-prevention\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-41645\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-41645\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/ci-moi-images\/my-india\/2015\/02\/swine-flu-prevention.jpg\" alt=\"Swine flu prevention\" width=\"665\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/ci-moi-images\/my-india\/2015\/02\/swine-flu-prevention.jpg 665w, https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/ci-moi-images\/my-india\/2015\/02\/swine-flu-prevention-300x180.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 665px) 100vw, 665px\" \/><\/a>We are in the middle of the swine flu epidemic.\u00a0Latest figures suggest that more than 14,000 have been affected by the illness across the country, and more than 832 have already succumbed to it.\u00a0The worst affected states are Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat, and new cases are being reported from other states as well. \u00a0Punjab has the highest ratio of those who died due to the illness to those having it.<\/p>\n<p>Experts in health care are bemoaning the fact that despite having had several outbreaks in the recent past, nothing much was done at the community level by the government to contain the spread of the disease.\u00a0Low budget allocation to public health expenditure has also been blamed for the epidemic. Awareness about the illness and its prevention is paramount, but one does not get to see too many public service messages on mass media to address this.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps, in addition to lack of hygiene, the fact that swine flu is not known to lead to severe consequences in a majority of those affected has got something to do with this.\u00a0There have also been misconceptions that like other vector borne diseases, swine flu is also spread by insects.\u00a0 Actually it spreads from close contact with animals such as domestic or farm bred animals, after which it spreads though droplets of mucous or saliva from person to person.<\/p>\n<p>The symptoms and signs of the illness, and what is to be done if one contracts the illness remains the same as in the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/health\/swine-flu-what-you-need-to-know-and-do\">previous article on swine flu.<\/a>\u00a0 With regards to the drugs used in treating swine flu, Tamiflu (chemical name oseltamivir) and Relenza (zanamivir) are recommended only to those in the population group that is vulnerable to severe life-threatening infection.\u00a0These may include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Those with pre-existing respiratory problems such as pneumonia<\/li>\n<li>Those suffering from long-term illnesses such as diabetes or heart disease<\/li>\n<li>Pregnant women<\/li>\n<li>Those in the extremes of age groups: above 65 years or below 2 years of age<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Preventive Measures to Check the Spread of the Disease <\/strong><br \/>\nFor the rest who do not belong to any of the above groups, it is better to follow preventive measures to check the spread of the virus.\u00a0Protective masks, hand washing, quarantining patients with the illness, personal hygiene, and consuming well cooked food and clean water would be necessary in achieving this.\u00a0Annual flu vaccine shots are a good idea, and people \u2013 especially the vulnerable \u2013 should be encouraged to have this regularly.<\/p>\n<p>Indiscriminate use of antiviral antibiotics may result in resistance to treatment, which may further worsen the situation, as well as inflate the price of the drugs available for treatment.\u00a0In a meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee, state health secretaries have been assured of the availability of testing kits, personal protective equipment, and medication to combat the epidemic.<\/p>\n<p>Following the surge in the price of laboratory test used in the diagnosis of the infection, the government has set a cap of Rs 4500 on the test. While the central government has directed all state governments to run 24 x 7 helpline on swine flu, the same is not available on the website of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare as of 20\u00a0February 2015.\u00a0 There is now a link to the website of Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, which provides a list of licensed pharmacies stocking the swine flu drugs across the country.\u00a0 However, one can access the lists of only eight states, and the data of licensed pharmacies has not been updated since 2009.<\/p>\n<p>The holes in the system have to be plugged urgently and the government, NGOs and public should get their acts together to stop the epidemic from becoming larger than what it is today.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related Information:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/india\/zika-virus\">Zika Virus threat in India &#8211; What is Zika Virus, Government Planning &amp; Prevention<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/health\/communicable-diseases-are-still-prevalent\">Communicable Diseases\u00a0Prevention measures<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/health\/now-japanese-encephalitis-in-india\">Japanese Encephalitis in India &#8211; Guidelines for Prevention, Control &amp; Symptoms<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/health\/world-hepatitis-day-what-is-india-doing\">Hepatitis B in India: Symptoms, Causes, Risks, Treatment and Facts<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/society\/ebola-virus-outbreak-is-india-prepared\">Ebola Virus Outbreak \u2013 Is India Prepared?<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/government\/india-to-be-certified-as-a-polio-free-nation-by-who\">India To Be Certified As A Polio-free Nation By WHO<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/social-issues\/non-communicable-diseases-take-care-before-its-late\">Non-Communicable Diseases \u2013 Take Care, Before It\u2019s Late<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/health\/swine-flu-what-you-need-to-know-and-do\">Swine Flu: What You Need to Know and Do<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/health\/is-your-heart-safe-learn-from-the-rural-folk-ways-to-keep-it-fit\">Prevention of Heart Attack and Other Related Heart Diseases<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/india\/leprosy-is-an-infection-it-can-be-cured-spread-the-word\">Leprosy &#8211; Causes, preventions and eradication programme<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/india\/prevalence-of-diabetes-in-india\">Prevalence of Diabetes in India<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/society\/can-delhi-handle-an-ebola-outbreak-when-we-dont-have-even-the-basic-healthcare-facility\">Can Delhi Handle an Ebola Outbreak<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/government\/the-fever-vaccination-still-an-elusive-proposal\">The Fever : Vaccination Still An Elusive Proposal<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/health\/a-reality-check-on-state-of-mental-health-in-india\">A Reality Check on State of Mental Health in India<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/india\/sharp-rise-in-non-polio-acute-flaccid-paralysis-after-polio-free-status\">Sharp rise in non polio Acute Flaccid Paralysis after polio-free status<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/health\/growing-problem-of-asthma-in-india\">Growing Problem of Asthma in India<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We are in the middle of the swine flu epidemic.\u00a0Latest figures suggest that more than 14,000 have been affected by the illness across the country, and more than 832 have already succumbed to it.\u00a0The worst affected states are Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat, and new cases are being reported from other states as well. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3532,"featured_media":41645,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11315],"tags":[6433],"class_list":{"0":"post-41469","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-india","8":"tag-swine-flu"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3532"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41469"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41469\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53320,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41469\/revisions\/53320"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}