The swine flu hysteria
I spotted him outside our office in Delhi. An earnest looking young man, briefcase in hand, strode through the gathering downtown crush wearing a clunky white mask, his eyes darting from side to side. He looked straight out of a Robin Cook novel: a potential victim of a predatory, mutating virus on the loose in a big city. He also appeared to be a victim of the swine flu hysteria sweeping India these days.
Everywhere I go people are talking about the flu. It doesn't help that this is the 'flu season' in Delhi anyway when almost everybody is sneezing, coughing, feeling feverish or retching. When I caught a bug last week and stayed in, well-meaning friends called in to say that I should get tested for the flu. When I went to a neighbourhood clinic for a routine examination, the pretty receptionist reminded me that a few swine flu cases had been reported in the area where I live. I ran back home.
On return, I found television news agog with manic anchors spreading panic. A programme on the flu called itself Fear of the Unknown with an emotive visual of a glum looking father and son, presumably on their way to a testing facility. I wondered what was unknown about the flu; the programme gave me no answers. I picked up a newspaper and counted 21 stories about the flu; there were barely five stories on the impending drought. The hysteria was now threatening to disrupt my peace.
So I went back to work to be greeted by more talk about the flu. Then I found my inbox running over with emails about homeopathic and other remedies to keep the pandemic away from my door. My favourite: eat raw garlic, two to three times a day; eat raw onion; eat fresh raw ginger, two to three times a day. With the stink I would raise after having this potent prophylactic mix, I risked getting lynched, even if I manage to beat the flu.
Indians love hyperbole. So it is with the swine flu 'debate'. Authorities are asking people to avoid crowded places "during weekends". A Bollywood film unit has cancelled a shoot because the actors fear getting infected. A friend called from Pune whining that his bosses were asking him to go on business meetings wearing a mask. And the latest scare is about the main anti-flu drug having side effects, despite sensible doctors saying it is nothing much to worry about. Every such media-fuelled 'outbreak' is also an opportunity for shamans and scams: one channel is even reporting a "H1N1 mask scam". Now the authorities have shut down schools and colleges in Mumbai for a week after three flu deaths in the city. All over, the fear is legitimate; the response is exaggerated.
What is conveniently forgotten is that India is no stranger to vicious outbreaks of fell diseases. Four years ago, just one state - Uttar Pradesh - alone reported 1145 cases of Japanese encephalitis in a single month. A fourth of these patients - nearly 300 - died. But encephalitis in a badly governed, poor state was not sensational enough for saturation coverage. Not many of the patients had possibly ever travelled outside the village. Apart from its name, there was nothing remotely global about this outbreak.
The same year, a brain fever outbreak struck the capital, Delhi, and in just about two months, affected over 400 people. Forty eight of them died. To put things into perspective, just under two million people contract malaria in India every year. And tuberculosis kills 325,000 people here every year.
But swine flu with double digit deaths - undoubtedly this number will rise - in a month and a thousand-odd patients gets disproportionate media and attention because it is imported, and affects the more affluent among us, people who go abroad and come in contact with others. In a country where globalisation means nothing to over 70% of the people, the brouhaha over H1N1 is another example of the tyranny of the minority.
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~30~RS~)
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This is most sensible article I have read about the swine flu outbreak in India. The flu has been blown entirely out of proportion. My mother is a nurse in government hospital in Pune and she echoes the same opinion.
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I think this is because the speed with which H1N1 is spreading, just like the author quotes two examples of epidemic in UP & Delhi, but those spreads were contained within the geographical limits, while this H1N1 is going to cover the whole country.
The news channels are doing good in spreading awareness about H1N1 and telling people what measures are supposed to be taken, no use of blaming them. If someone needs to be blamed, it is the people like us, who watch them.It is pure economics at play..
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Agreed to some views. Could not agree abt media more.
But unlike other countries there is real risk of major loss of lives here considering the crowd, access to healthcare and general awareness. Imagin what could happen if couple of infected people travel a crowded Virar local at peak time in Mumbai.
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The links given in this article are broken like:
1. http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Cook_(American_novelist)
2. http//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4520335.stm
etc...
This is because ":", colon is missing after http
Hence correct links shall be
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Cook_(American_novelist)
2. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4520335.stm
etc...
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With regard to your last column on 'Sach ka Saamna', it looks like we Indians have found something else to worry about other than a silly TV show. :)
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I had to sign in just to correct the errors in the most; ironically you make the same mistakes you accuse the media of committing.
What makes this outbreak a problem in India?
1. A virus that has mutated twice, changing species and changing the mode of transmission
2. A virus that causes fulminant disease in people with pre-existing problems, and in some otherwise normal people
3. A healthcare system that cannot manage this illness (how many hospitals have decent ventilators in this country?)
4. A lack of infrastructure to deal with large scale epidemics or incidents of any sort
5. A large, overcrowded population structure, facilitating rapid dissemination
6. A large population that still thinks garlic and turmeric will cure this disease (the comments in one regional newspaper advocates praying to pigs!)
7. A significant percent of the population that is willing to easily dismiss this as media hype.
Now if that is not worrying, then perhaps this country has no hope at all.
There is a difference between all the diseases you mention and H1N1. Tuberculosis for example. It is a chronic (long term) disease. An estimated 40% of the population carries the bacteria. A very small proportion have the disease and an even smaller proportion die. So the mortality risk is very low. Quoting a very large number without quoting the denominator (the context) is disingenuous at best.
For the other diseases, as a previous commentator notes, this is a large scale problem and not a localized outbreak.
Besides are you confident in the statistics reported by the government and media. And what percentage of the infected people should die before we should sit up and take notice? And wherever did you get the idea that this is a disease of the rich? As always it is the poor that are at high risk (overcrowding, and poor access to health care).
This disease is not a joke or a hype. May be we will all do well to remember SARS, and how badly it could have gone.
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Sensible post.
There are definitely enough reasons to be worried given the state of affairs in India. However, our reactions are typical - create a big galatta, hype it up and forget it as soon as the next big thing happens. I would rather we took stock and did something sensible in preparation for the next time.
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Your point is well taken but knowledge is power. Disseminating correct information about H1N1 Flu will go a long way in migitating the hysteria sweeping the nation. For some no nonsense information on Swine Flu please click the following link:
http://bensblog.rediffiland.com/blogs/2009/08/13/FAQs-of-Swine-Flu.html
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I don't quite agree - unlike swine flu, TB is selective - it strikes the malnourished mostly (not the general population) and is not as highly infectious as the 'common' flu. Similarly, the rich and upper middle class don't live in mosquito-infested surroundings. Also, simple protection against mosquito bites, prevents getting infected with malaria. But, when something as common as the flu becomes a killer, it is the commonality that makes it so lethal. The common cold is named as such because it is common, in other words, 'everyday,' or 'widespread.' Imagine what would happen if something as common or as 'taken-for-granted' as the common cold virus, mutated into a killer virus!
And yes, here's where the tyre hits the road - for the affluent Indian, it's been 'so-far-so-good' vis a vis diseases associated with the poor masses in rural India. The swine flu has turned the tables - 'not-so-poor' city dwellers are most affected! The same thing happened with 26/11 - until then, the lower economic classes bore the brunt of terrorist attacks. But when the 5-Star class got a taste of it, the Indian media went on a rampage with the slogan, "Enough is enough!"
Noel Gama
http://www.India-culture-for-western-expats.com
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Though I accept a part of that, We should understand that people are panicked about this Swine flu more because the Vaccines are not yet available. There are only medications available for this that too post-flu. No prevention Vaccins whereas those other contagious diseases referred in the article still have some preventions available.
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The frustration with India's efforts are that too many people are above the law. Look at the China example - they quarantined the New Orleans Mayor
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31155300/ns/health-swine_flu/
where as in India VIPs are allowed to run amok
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/govt-invokes-tough-act-for-swine-flu-patients/94771-3.html
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