With more than 620 Swine flu deaths in the country, the government is making efforts to control the spread of the deadly disease.

As an individual how can you protect you and your family from this fast spreading disease? To know that first you should understand how the disease spreads and its causative agent.

What causes Swine flu?

Swine flu is respiratory disorder caused by H1N1 virus or any of its variants. In 2009, we had a swine flu pandemic with lakhs of people being affected by the virus.

How does swine flu spread?

Swine flu spreads from person to person through droplet infection in air. If you are in close proximity to an affected person, if the person coughs or sneezes then the causative agent may travel through air as small droplets enter your respiratory system resulting in infection.

What are the symptoms of swine flu?

The symptoms of swine flu range from simple flu like symptoms to lethal life threatening symptoms.

1. Sore throat
2. Fever
3. Cough
4. Running nose
5. Extreme body ache
6. Fatigue
7. Vomiting
8. Diarrhea
9. Respiratory Distress
10. Pneumonia

How to know whether you have swine flu

The swine flu symptoms closely mimic that of the common cold and in most cases in the initial stages swine flu may be mistaken for common cold.

If you experience any of symptoms consult your doctor immediately. Confirmation of the diagnosis can be done by blood test and it may take weeks for the results to arrive. As a prophylactic step, your doctor may start with antiviral medications.

Is swine flu vaccine necessary?

The recent increase in the number of cases strongly suggests that vaccination of people who are at risk is the only way to curb the disease.

Though vaccination is not mandatory, the following people definitely need the vaccination:

• Children between 6 months and 5 years of age
• Pregnant women
• Old age people
• People with disabilities
• Immune-compromised  patients
• Health care workers
• If anyone in the house or neighborhood has swine flu

Swine Flu vaccine

Swine flu vaccine are available as intramuscular injections, please consult your doctor to know what vaccine is available in your area. Please make sure that vaccine is of the current year, as the swine flu virus mutates every year and the vaccine is prepared against the current year viral strain.

Prevention

Prevention is always better than cure

1. One definite way is to take preventive swine flu vaccine.
2. Proper hand washing – Adopt Proper hand washing with soap and water or hand sanitizer. Flu virus can survive for more than 2 hours on surfaces like door handles, tables, chairs etc.
3. Always cover your mouth and nose with a tissue (never use your hands) while coughing and sneezing.
4. Avoid crowded areas.
5. Take rest if you are sick.
6. If any one of the family members has flu then take precautionary measures and isolate the person.
7. Have immune boosting foods and drink plenty of water.

Treatment for Swine Flu

The treatment may vary according to the presenting symptoms and severity, please consult your doctor for more details.

If you have any doubts or queries feel free to ask here