The sudden spurt in cases of swine flu in December in Telangana has put a sense of dread among public in Hyderabad, who are yet to forget the experience of 2009 and 2010 when the swine flu positive cases had crossed 1500.
While doctors acknowledge that fear among public is genuine and reasonable, they, however, assure that this time around the swine flu virus is not as virulent as earlier.
Doctors give the instance of 2009-10 when mortality rate among swine flu positive pregnant women, brought from districts to Hyderabad, was anywhere between 95 and 100 per cent.
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Not many hospitals, both corporate and government hospitals here were able to revive pregnant women during that swine flu epidemic.
Doctors point out that the swine flu virus has not developed resistance to drugs.
“Patients are still responding to Fluvir and Tamiflu, which are traditional drugs used for swine flu virus. While there is a definite need to conduct studies by researchers, from our clinical observations of patients at Gandhi Hospital, we can deduce that there is no resistance to drugs,” said swine flu nodal office, Gandhi Hospital, Dr. Narasimhulu.
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Chest physicians have also lamented the fact not many know about the availability of vaccines for swine flu.
“Public have the option of contacting a chest physician to find whether they need a vaccine. The swine flu virus here has definitely not mutated into a virulent form but it will continue to remain a threat for persons with co-morbid conditions,” says Dr. K. Subhakar, swine flu co-ordinator, and pulmonology professor.
There is also a general acceptance that swine flu virus has become endemic.
“Influenza virus never goes away in tropical countries. Its numbers suddenly tend to increase whenever the temperatures are congenial. This time, incidence of swine flu cases will not surprise health care providers because already there is a lot of experience due to past epidemics,” says infectious disease specialist, Dr. Sunita Nareddy.
Senior doctors also point out that there is little inclination even among health care workers, especially nurses, paramedics and class four employees, to get themselves vaccinated.
Doctors advise parents not to send their children who have flu to schools till the time they recover.
Interestingly, it’s not just Hyderabad from where swine flu cases have been reported.
Medak, Ranga Reddy, Mahabubnagar, Chittoor and Kadapa are the other districts to report flu cases.