According to a researcher, Nitesh Pandey of Indian Astrobiology Research Foundation (IARF), H1N1 influenza spreads rapidly because it of it's presymptomatic nature. The symptoms appear 2-3 days after the virus has already entered one's body, he said. Pandey is a researcher in Evolutionary Medicine and his research on swine flu has recently been published in the Journal of Evolutionary Medicine
The first case of swine flu was reported in 2009 in India and then it went up to affect more than a thousand lives. Now the state government has declared it seasonal flu. "Now this is the seasonal flu and is most active when the season changes. The mobile population are getting affected easily because it is an airborne disease. We advise people to avoid mass gatherings. Any symptoms like cold, cough or fever should not be take up lightly and one must consult a doctor so that one gets proper treatment and it stops affecting others," said Dr Bhavin Solanki, in-charge medical officer of Health, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.
The researcher relates this virus with the deadliest virus that prevailed in 1918. "So far the 1918's Spanish Flu was the most devastating disease in the history of mankind. The flu had killed more than millions. It was so severe that it made the affected person completely bedridden and immobile," said Pandey.
"The virus had spread globally even to the remote islands of Pacific because of its presymptomatic nature. Many people never got to know that they were affected by this virus. And, unlike the other flu, this virus had affected the young and mobile population the most," he further added.
Likewise, the swine flu virus affects the mobile population and the youth the most. "The swine flu is not as much severe as Spanish flu, but it has rapidly spread worldwide. I have applied the principles of Evolutionary Biology to understand the disease," said Pandey.
"Basically, the infected people are kept in isolation. The virus spreads with contact," said the researcher.
