Swine flu was declared a pandemic by WHO of level 6 on June 11. So is the world going to come down and is an apocalypse round the corner? Apparently not.
" As it stands today, there is little cause for immediate panic. Out of 30,000 odd infected by swine flu, only about 145 (June 12 WHO figures) have died. This is comparable in severity to seasonal flu infections, whose annual death toll worldwide is 200,000 to 300,000. If this level of severity continues, then it is unlikely to be more than a mere blip in global health scenario. WHO's chief flu expert Keiji Fukuda in his June 9 briefing said that with more around the world becoming infected, immunity to the virus will build up. At that point, this A (H1N1) variant will be just another seasonal strain, joining three others—including a human A (H1N1) strain—that are currently circulating. Read this at http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/8713/
The concerns in flu are not of mortality or morbidity but that of mutation. The present drugs - zanamivir alone or with a combination of oseltamivir are potent to counter the infection. Nonetheless, with the spread of the virus and thus the number of replications the virus might be undergoing, the chances of a viable more potent mutant form only go up. That is the reason for scare in most cases if any. So even though we have a pandemic on our hands the severity of the disease is not high and so our response should be normal and not guarded. However, where does our Indian government stand in its response to the flu?
" In India, while primary health centres and hospitals lack vital life saving medicines, under the pressure of headlines, Indian government stocked up on Oseltamivir earlier and may do so again. To compound this folly, the Indian government head disregarded the generic version of the Oseltamivir being manufactured by Cipla during the outbreak of bird flu and decided to buy the more expensive one from Roche under the "mistaken" belief that Roche really had a valid patent. Ultimately, the Indian Patent Office did not grant Roche a patent for Oseltamivir, paving the way for generic manufacturers such as Cipla to meet not only Indian requirements and also supply to other countries.
Its easy to criticize in retrospect any policy decision, much less preemptive actions are always ones to be targeted more. Nonetheless, that the government did sit up and take a stock of the situation is in itself commendable as most of us usually expect a lackluster response from the Indian government.
All in all keep a watch but don't get psyched up by the tag pandemic.
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