Experts in the city are worried that panic about swine flu is spreading faster than the virus itself.
Doctors have urged the media not to create hype over swine flu infection or any deaths that may occur and warned that scaring people might drive them to self-medication.
“People should not take Tamiflu (Oselatamivir) indiscriminately. It is a powerful antiviral drug and those who pop these pills unnecessarily will have even the mild, common strains of flu building resistance against strong drugs. We will then be left without a weapon against the virus,” said Dr S. Elango, pointing out that more people die of mosquito-related illnesses than H1N1.
The government of Tamil Nadu has detected 13 cases of A(H1N1) influenza in the city since January, according to statistics released by state health minister V.S. Vijay on Monday. In 2011, there were only 34 cases reported the entire year, compared to 1,405 in 2010 and 3,047 in 2009.
“In winter, the virus is usually airborne, but in summer virologists have warned that the virus could spread very quickly through touch, especially dirty hands. People should wash their hands with soap after shaking hands or touching surfaces in public places,” advises Dr Elango.
“There is no reason to get so obsessive over swine flu—people are walking around with much worse infections,” says a senior government doctor, pointing out that nobody makes a hue and cry when someone dies of pneumonia, dengue or malaria.
“H1N1 is easily treatable when detected within three to four days and only people with pre-existing conditions and with poor immunity will develop complications. Healthy individuals need not worry as A(H1N1) is not a ‘killer virus’, but just like any other seasonal viral fever and flu,” says Dr Ram Gopalakrishnan, consultant in infectious diseases and tropical medicine, Apollo hospitals.
Surgical masks no shield against virus, say docs
On Monday afternoon, Ravikumar braved the heat and the one-way traffic on Anna Salai to buy a stack of special N95 masks for his daughter.
“My daughter has to attend her Class 10 exams from this week. The last time there was a swine flu outbreak, many children from her school were infected. I can’t take any chance. These masks will protect her,” he says, not knowing that surgical masks are useless against the miniscule flu virus.
Driven by panic about a swine-flu related death in Tirupur, queries about Tamiflu tablets and the H1N1 vaccine have started pouring in to the clinics of city doctors who have their hands full trying to dispel irrational beliefs about the flu.
The A(H1N1) vaccine hoarded up by the government since 2009 needs to be tested for efficacy as it is only valid until June this year, but the annual flu vaccine will also provide immunity against swine flu, say doctors.
“People concerned about contracting the infectioncan opt for the annual influenza vaccine, which will offer protection against A(H1N1) as well as two additional viral strains doing the rounds this year,” explains Dr Ram Gopalakrishnan, consultant, infectious diseases and tropical medicine at Apollo Hospitals here.
The vaccine takes around 5 to 7 days to start working and doctors advise young children and those with existing illnesses to take it.
“It is not right to create hysteria among the public. We do not want the scene from 2009 to be repeated — people with cold and cough lining up to get themselves tested for swine flu, with private laboratories charging more than Rs 5,000 per test,” says a senior doctor who was in charge of a government hospital in 2009.
“Tamiflu tablets suddenly become a precious commodity and pharmacies hoard up the drugs and sell them in the black market,” says the doctor.
“The best way to prevent the spread of the infection is to advise people with symptoms to stay at home and take rest. The infective stage of the disease is one day before the symptoms of fever, body ache and running nose start, and for four days afterwards,” he says.