Holi, the festival of joy is all about congregating, hugging, throwing water, rubbing colours, sharing food and drinks but all these things which make the festival special could actually give a major boost to the number of swine flu affected people.
The medical experts are of the opinion that Holi involves all those things which are on ‘Do not’ list for preventing the disease. To make the matter worse for the health department the recent spell of rains have reduced the temperatures considerably due to which chances of spreading the swine flu virus are much higher.
Swine flu is threatening to become a major epidemic in the country; data suggests that the number of people affected (since January this year) by the disease has crossed 22,000 mark with more than 1,200 people succumbing to the disease.
Maximum numbers of causalities are reported from Rajasthan and Gujarat. In Uttarakhand, thankfully the disease has not assumed dangerous proportions but with two deaths and 15 positive cases, Dehradun is the most swine flu affected district in the State. On Wednesday three more cases of the disease were reported from the district.
Former State medical and health director Dr lK Gusain told The Pioneer that people should avoid close contact with each other during Holi celebrations. He advised that people with symptoms like sneezing and running nose and fever should keep indoors during the festival.
He added that people should use of natural colours in Holi. Senior physician at Doon Hospital Dr NS Bisht also supported the views of Dr Gusain. He warned that the chances of spread of swine flu virus are very high during Holi. He suggested regular washing of hands and gargles of warm saline water to prevent the infection.
The head of Department of Ayush wing at Doon hospital Dr OP Baukhandi said Ayurveda defines diseases like swine flu as ‘vat sleshmik jwar’ and they spread from close contact. He too admitted that the disease could infect more people during Holi. He strongly advocated for a ‘Tilak holi’ this time, in which people put a Tilak of sandalwood paste on foreheads of one another.