The News Minute | January 30, 2015 | 2:35 pm IST
With the recent increase in positive cases and the death toll, Swine flu has now become a much discussed topic among most house holds - especially in the state of Telangana.
Swine flu has hit Telangana and it has hit the state hard, making it one the worst affected states in the country, with special focus on its capital city of Hyderabad.
The state-run Gandhi Hospital, is the nodal centre to treat swine flu patients in Hyderabad. The nodal agency for testing and confirming swine flu virus for AP and Telangana is the Institute of Preventive Medicine (IPM) where almost 50 per cent of the swab samples of suspected swine flu cases patients are turning up positive after the testing.
With the state government refusing to accept that the situation is grim, despite asking people not to hug or handshake and greet others with a 'Namaste' instead - here are some of the things you need to know about the disease.
History:
Swine flu is a respiratory disease caused by the influenza viruses that infect the respiratory tract of pigs and result in a barking cough, decreased appetite, nasal secretions, and listless behavior.
Swine flu viruses may mutate, so that they are easily transmissible among humans.
The World Health Organization declared the infection a global pandemic in August 2010.
The state has also previously witnessed an outbreak of the virus in 2009 - 10
After a lull of around two years, the second half of December 2014 saw positive cases of swine flu getting reported.
Transmission:
Swine flu also known as the H1N1 virus spreads when you touch an infected surface or breathe cough and sneeze droplets in the air. The symptoms are the same as the seasonal flu - cough, sore throat, and body aches. Young children, pregnant women, and older adults are more likely to develop complications.
People who work with poultry and swine, especially those with intense exposures, are at increased risk of infection with this influenza virus.
Isolation is also a very important step to curb the spread of the virus, which the Telangana govt addressed by asking parents not to send their children to school, if he/she exhibited flu like symptoms.
How and where medicines are available in Hyderabad
Swine flu is a virus than can be easily tackled, given the right infrastructure and necessary action.
An Influenza vaccine has been made available to the general public in the city. Most available influenza vaccines now come with H1N1 strains which may be taken especially for high risk cases, who are likely to contract the disease
Tamiflu (oseltamivir) is an antiviral medication that has been announced by the government as blocks the actions of influenza virus types A and B in your body.
Officials, earlier, had said that the central government would send 50,000 Tamiflu tablets, 10,000 anti-swine flu syrups and 50,000 kits to diagnose swine flu cases. The medicines and kits will be distributed to all hospitals in Hyderabad and other districts, they had announced.
The News Minute enquired about the drug at medical stores across the city, but could not find a single pharmacy with the medicine.
Many were not even aware about what the drug was for and were clueless as to where it would be available. A few suggested that they could get it within a few days, by pulling strings, up in the ranks of government offices.
According to reports, the drug is only available at government hospitals and at chemists that are permitted to sell ‘Schedule X’ drugs. These can only be purchased on prescription from a registered medical practitioner.
The pharmacy also has to keep a record of the prescription, the name of the prescribing doctor, and the person to whom it is sold, making the outflow to the general public very limited, while awareness levels still remain low among the poor and the illiterate.