SWINE FLU IN INDIA AND PAKISTAN

Swine flu stands as the most pressing challenge for the public health in India according to the officials at the Indian Health ministry. Although the symptoms of A(H1N1) have been proven to be mild in many of the known cases, people are still afraid of it.
Swine Influenza (also called Swine flu, Hog flu and Pig flu) is an infection by any one of several types of Swine influenza virus. Swine influenza virus is common throughout pig populations worldwide. According to the Indian health authorities about 800 people were tested positive for the A(H1N1) viral infection and 511 of the 800 had been treated successfully. Following the increase in the infections across the country, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ordered the health ministry to co-ordinate action with state government.
. The Swine flu death toll in India has climbed to 80 with warning to people in worst to stay away from the crowded places. As many as 25 persons died in Pune alone and the deaths have been reported from Karnataka, Gujarat, Delhi, Goa, Rajasthan and Haryana.
The Government of India went on high alert mode in preparation for the possibility of the deadly swine flu reaching the Indian shores. The ministry of Health and Family welfare under the Union Government has decided to contact all the flu drug suppliers in India including Roche, Cipla, Ranbaxy, Hetero and Natco to check the status and availability of oseltamivir (Tami flu) to prevent and treat swine-flu. The India government has already stored 1 million tablets and plans to raise it to 10 million in next 15 days.
The government has identified nine Airports in India including Delhi, Bangalore, Cochin for screening foreign visitors. Health ministry has already issued an advisory to Indians against visiting to the flu affected areas such as Mexico, US, Europe.
Swine flu has not only threatened India but also its neighborhood Pakistan.
The Federal Minister of Health of Pakistan, on Monday confirmed the first case of H1N1 virus adding that the patient had recovered and the disease was not transmitted any further. As many as 25 suspected patients were screened for swine flu and the situation was under control, as all preventive measures had been taken in that regard, the minister stated while replying to a written question on the floor of the National Assembly.
The Health Ministry said that the availability of Anti-Vial drug is sufficiently available in Government hospitals to treat any patient of swine flu. Parents are informed by the educational institutes that children with swine flu symptoms might not be sent to Schools.
As the swine flu virus is the new virus no swine flu vaccine is available to prevent infection. Experts are already working on a swine flu vaccine though. The CDC has already provided a candidate vaccine virus to several laboratories and manufacturers so that they can produce pilot lots of swine flu vaccines that can be tested to make sure they are safe and effective.
The H1N1 virus so far has been no more deadly than the flu strains seen every fall and winter. And close genetic tracking of the new virus as it circled the globe in the past five months has shown no sign that it is mutating to become more virulent.