The "Swine" Flu Scare...

Swine flu has started to claim its victims in India. While there is no cause for panic – worldwide, less than 1 per cent of those infected with the H1N1 virus have died – however, in India, the lacunae way in which the government has managed the disease so far is apparent. With the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimating that as many as two billion people could be infected with the virus in two years, and doctors’ warning that the virus could spread faster post-monsoon, it is important that the ministry of health be ready to respond to the crisis.

As it stands, the country’s treatment protocol is lacking. The girl in Pune (the first victim who died) was initially misdiagnosed by private practitioners, which resulted in what proved to be a fatal delay in her getting proper treatment. By the time her samples were sent by the private hospital where she was being treated to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) for testing, it was too late. According to current treatment procedure, private laboratories can test for H1N1 infection, but if the test is positive, further treatment is available only at mandated government hospitals.

This should change. Private hospitals and clinics should receive training to deal with suspected cases of H1N1and if the cases are confirmed, they should be in a position to offer treatment.

The rate at which the infection is spreading makes screening at airports irrelevant. Screening is done on the basis of forms that rely on people to disclose the status of their health honestly. With the threat of a seven-day quarantine in a government hospital looming, many people might lie, thus making it useless to screen people on disembarkation. At this point, it is only burdening the system with unnecessary paperwork. Now that the virus has infected the local population, other measures have to be adopted to countermand its spread. For now, until a vaccine is available, the best safeguard is prevention by maintaining personal hygiene.

The ministry of health should concentrate its energies on ensuring that a vaccine is produced as soon as possible. The WHO has supplied seed strains of the virus to two Indian companies to manufacture the vaccine, while a third is waiting for its samples. It is unlikely that the vaccine will be available before the end of the year, by which time the pandemic could have significantly worsened. Australia has already started clinical trials and the US is soon to follow suit. India needs to ramp up production of the vaccine so it can immunise large chunks of the population. If more drug companies need to be licensed to manufacture the vaccine, the drug controller should do it.