Just how protective are those masks that people can be seen wearing at various public places in the city, thinking they are safe from swine fluIJ Doctors warn that if you are not wearing the much thicker N95 mask that is extremely difficult to find in the market these days, you must wear at least three of those commonly available masks to actually get any protection against the H1N1 infection.
When a young girl was tested positive for swine flu at a local hospital a few days ago, her father told the doctor, “No, this is just not possible. My daughter cannot get swine-flu as she is a pure vegetarian!” A common reaction that exposes the myths and confusion that the H1N1 scare has created among the common man. In fact, it is an air-borne infection and high personal hygiene is a good prevention.
While the outbreak of the infection has become a hot topic of discussion in elite neighbourhoods as much as the small tea-stalls, public awareness about the disease appears to be riddled with hearsay and incomplete information. The Pioneer interviewed pulmonary specialist Dr Puneet Tyagi to gather important facts about this year’s outbreak, preventive care and debunk the myths associated with the infection.
First the good news- the severity of swine- flu and the mortality from it is much lesser this year than the previous years. “While patients are testing positive for the H1N1 infections in Dehradun, the intensity of the infection, the associated complications and the fatality rate are significantly lower than the last epidemic we saw here in 2013. For instance, in Uttarakhand higher number of cases had to be kept on ventilation and developed serious secondary infections the last time compared to the current outbreak. There is a lot of scare among people due to lack of knowledge and the hype around the infection but they need to calm down,” stated Tyagi, Senior Consultant, Pulmonology, Max hospital.
He pointed out, “With the spread of the infection is required urgently a spread in its awareness too. Though out of a fear psychosis people panic that swine- flu is highly fatal, the fact is that approximately 85 percent of the times the infection goes away on its own through ordinary flu medications taken at home.”
Regarding vaccination he said, “Swine-flu vaccination typically offers around 50-60 percent protection from the infection after at least a month of administration and it needs to be repeated annually as each year the vaccine might need to be changed as per the virus strain. In India, October- November are the best months for this vaccination,” the pulmonologist advised. Individuals with suppressed immunity are at higher risk of catching the H1N1 infection and should consider the vaccine as a preventive measure. As swine- flu is an airborne disease, this includes people with respiratory disorders as well as diabetics, the elderly and patients undergoing chemotherapy. Reportedly, the vaccination is currently not available easily in India and is being black-marketed.
If a person with flu-like symptoms suffers breathlessness, abnormal blood pressure or signs of pneumonia, he should get himself tested for H1N1 immediately though hospitalization might not be necessary. However, if the number of positively tested patients in Dehradun continues to rise, hospitals in Doon may face challenges like severe inadequacy of isolation rooms, shortage of Tamiflu and lack of required qualified ventilator operators.