With the swine flu threat looming large, people form the city making a beeline for alternative medicine such as homeopathy and ayurveda.
As more people are being tested positive with each passing day in the State and medical practitioners admit that the commonly-available allopathic drug may not be effective for all forms of flu, the citizens are seen approaching homeopathy and ayurveda clinics in Tirupati, seeking preventive medication.
The AYUSH clinic near the city railway station is witnessing a steady flow of out-patients with symptoms of cough and cold. Similar is the scene at the Clinical Research Unit (Homeopathy) located on the Old Maternity Hospital campus, which distributes the drug ‘Arsenic Album 30’ to the visitors.
The centre, working under the Central Council for Research in Homeopathy (CCRH), New Delhi, has distributed the medicine to 25,000 people so far, since the swine flu outbreak was reported two years ago. “We are distributing the drug to out-patients. Stock refill from our Delhi headquarters is awaited, as major portion of the stock has been diverted to Hyderabad, where the threat perception is high,” says R.V.R. Prasad, officer-in-charge of the centre.
Pathanjali Yog Samithi has claimed that ‘Thippa Theega’ (Giloy) can prevent the virus infection. “Chewing the creeper early in the day and consuming its juice improves immunity,” says its district president K. Venkata Reddy . Similarly, the ‘Surajyam’ distributed homeopathy medicine and provided surgical masks to 5,000 people at a camp held on Sunday, said its secretary N. Raja Reddy.
