Precautions can prevent flu

There is absolutely no need to worry about the spread of the H1N1 flu. There have been 40 cases and one death reported in a population of 66 million
people in Tamil Nadu. And there are background medical conditions in the reported death.

In the UK, different strains of the flu come every year and the treatment is medication as well as quarantine for up to five days after the symptoms have subsided. We recommend the same here and advise that the person under treatment for H1N1 be looked after by only one person. We also advise home quarantine over hospitalisation for milder cases. The patient also needs to wear an N-95, which has to be kept on when the caregiver is in the room. Caregivers are also advised to wear masks as an extra precaution. The caregiver is also under surveillance for the virus.

There are certain precautions to be observed though Chennai weather is not conducive to the growth of the virus: First, people need to maintain a social distance of one metre. Second, practise cough etiquette placing a handkerchief or tissue over your mouth when you cough. Also, it is not very safe for all those who suspect that they have swine flu to queue up close to each other outside hospitals because they increase the chances of transmission. Either they need to wear a triple-layered mask or cover their mouths with two handkerchiefs to filter the air they breathe.

Signs to watch out for are a fever of more than 100 degrees F, and at least one of the symptoms of nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat or cough. The only ways to clinically confirm H1N1: Real Times PCR test; viral culture, which is expensive; and two serum samples taken ver the course of a few days.

The reason the government is not releasing the tablets to the public is to prevent stock-piling and black-marketing as well as to prevent the indiscriminate and inappropriate use of the medication, which can lead to the virus becoming resistant.

However, the government has to supply masks and tablets to government and private medical colleges and hospitals, especially where isolation wards have been created to treat the flu. Government and private hospitals need to work in tandem. At CMC Hospital in Vellore, we have testing kits that have been approved by ICMR and the government has given the virology department clearance to test for H1N1.

Again, right now, there is no cause for panic but there is a heightened need for awareness and prompt reporting of the disease.

(Dr Dilip Mathai, Professor and Head of the Department of Medicine-1 and Infectious Diseases Training and Research Centre, CMC Hospital, Vellore)