The death of NRI Pravin Patel, the first swine flu victim in Gujarat, has shocked the people in the city. From the one extreme of ignoring the symptoms of the disease in the beginning, the citizens here appear to have gone to another extreme. Now, people with even the smallest trace of problems like cold and cough seem to be rushing for an H1N1 test.
The doctors in city said the people with common viral infection like influenza had panicked. Interestingly, the scared lot comprises mostly of educated people from middle and upper-middle class. Safety of kids seems to have weighed down the people most, as a large number of parents, doctors said, are enquiring about the precautions to be taken for the kids.
Hardik Vyas (named changed), a 35-year old Amdavadi who works in an MNC in Pune, rushed back to Ahmedabad immediately after the death of a girl in Pune. However, due to change in climate, he fell sick as soon as arriving here. Suffering from influenza (common viral fever), he was admitted to a hospital in Satellite.
A hospital doctor, wishing anonymity, said, “Vyas had no major problem. He had plain viral fever. However, because of the fear of swine flu that has gripped many people in city in the last couple of days he did not want to take chances. He requested us to keep him in the hospital even though this was not at all required.”
Eventually, after a two-day stay in the hospital, Vyas was discharged, said the doctor.
Nidhi Vaishnav (name changed), a 28-year-old woman, had similar fears. Her
two small kids had viral fever and she insisted that the doctor conducted H1N1 test on her kids. The doctors tried to persuade her to shed her fear.
After a long round of explaining, she got convinced that her children were not in any danger and agreed to return home.
The two cases are not in isolation, there are several others who are mistaking common/seasonal fever for swine flu (H1N1). The doctors have a mammoth task on hand to allay the fears of common people. What is more interesting, there are several doctors who have developed fear and are getting themselves tested as a precautionary measure.
Medical director of Medilink Hospital in Satellite, Dr Manish Agarwal, said, “Of all the patients who are coming to us, around 80% of the patients are gripped by fear of having infected by swine flu virus.”
Agarwal, also the secretary of Satellite Medical Association, said most of the doctors had been using N-91 mask for some time but are gradually shifting to N-95 which has better quality and provides higher protection.
Agreeing with Dr Manish Agarwal, Dr Sapan Pandya, secretary of Ahmedabad Family Physician Association, said “The symptoms of the common flu and H1N1 are almost similar, only the intensity is different. My advice to people will be that they do not need to panic, but should get themselves tested for the same.”
