Guard against H1N1

Instead do the following:

1) Among members that live in your household (includes family,friends,relatives and those who visit your household (for work) keep a close watch for the following symptoms:

• Fever

• Cough

• Sore throat

• Running nose

• Nose block/stuffy nose

• Body aches

• Headache

• Chills and fatigue

• Vomiting

• Diarrhoea

2) If there are infants in the family (less than one year old) in addition to all of the above – keep a watch for symptoms of irritability,inability to feed,vomiting.

3) You would know whether any of member(s) of your family has travelled abroad within last 10 days,or if you have had any visitors from outside of India in the last 10 days. And whether any of them had any of the symptoms of ‘flu. If yes,what happened to their symptoms afterwards? If the answer is no then do the following

* Stay at home as much as possible.

* Specifically,stay away from closed,overcrowded and indoor spaces such as cinemas,malls,restaurants,enclosed shops,classrooms,lifts and overcrowded places,wherever they might be NOTE: Even with a mask it is not advisable to go to such places.

* Don’t visit friends,family or have any of them over to your house until the epidemic has subsided.

* If you MUST to go out,please USE A MASK.

* A routine surgical mask is more than sufficient. There is scientific evidence to show that using a surgical mask will protect transmission of germs from an infected person – as well as using an N95 masks that you are hearing about on TV.

And if you notice any one symptom then the affected person must:

4) Stay home,take rest and try to be as isolated as possible.

5) Drink plenty of fluids

6) It would be best for this person to wear a mask.

7) A distance of six feet is recommended to reduce transmission of infection through coughing or sneezing

8) Use disposable tissues if possible for cleaning nose and dispose used tissues in the trash

9) Wash your hands with soap and water each time you touch your nose/secretions from your mouth/nose.

10) You can use a hand sanitizer each time. Or else just wash your hands with soap and water. This has to be done meticulously EACH time!

11) If you must use a hanky,put away the hanky each time in your pocket and wash your hands with soap and water EACH time you cough/sneeze as above. Wash the clothes and hanky with detergent as usual.

12) The virus survives for two to eight hours outside the human body and so cleaning surfaces/materials /clothes/hankies before this time would be most beneficial. Clean surfaces and items those are more likely to have frequent hand contact with cleaning agents that are usually used in these areas. Additional disinfection beyond routine cleaning is not recommended.

13) When you cough,use a tissue or cough into your own elbow/sleeve while covering your mouth.

14) Treat with Crocin for fever (>1000F/37.80C) as and when required. This will help with the fever and body pain or headache.

15) Treat cold and cough with antihistamines – Crocin Cold and ‘Flu can treat all symptoms of ‘flu.

16) Do not use any aspirin for fever. This is the general rule for ALL viral infections,not just in this era of H1NI1. It can lead to some dangerous complications.

17) For treatment of children try to talk to your paediatricians. Again it is better if you would do so on the phone. Remember that going to a crowded clinic/hospital facility also increases your exposure to any disease including H1NI1.

18) Clean toys,surfaces and articles of affected individuals with bleach or alcohol. Wash your hands with soap and water after doing this.

19) It is well-known that an untreated cold last for seven days while a treated one lasts a week! (No difference at all as you can see!)

20) But if symptoms last for more than four days or if you think symptoms are worsening do contact your doctor for ruling out further infection or H1NI1

Note the affected family member and other members/contacts of the affected family member are ‘in quarantine’ that is,they are obliged to stay at home and avoid contact with all other individuals for a period of seven days – this is the duration of infectivity of the ‘flu.

If symptoms last longer than seven days,they should stay home until they have been symptom-free for at least 24 hours.

Issued in public interest by Dr Gowri Sastry,MD,MPH (public health expert)

Masquerade
Several newspapers are running several contradictory and mostly inaccurate role of the ‘surgical masks’ in the prevention of H1N1/swine’flu.

There is scientific evidence to prove that surgical masks are as effective in preventing transmission of H1N1 as are the more expensive/less available N-95 (read the attached abstract)

Masks should be worn ideally by those who are infected and therefore infective to others. But this might be beyond the control of the common person. An effective alternative is to wear a mask to protect oneself,if one can afford as it is important to follow the rules laid below:

* Normally a surgical mask can be worn for eight to 10 hours. Those who are infected need to change masks as often as they get soiled.

* Used masks should be disposed off in bleach/hypochlorite solution as the H1N1 virus remains viable from two to eight hours outside of the human body in infected materials such as tissues,hankies,masks,clothes,surfaces of tables,toys,and other surfaces

* Cough/sneeze into your own elbow/sleeve even while wearing a mask to prevent transmission of virus.

* N-95 masks are recommended currently for lab workers and health workers who are working with the virus and those infected with the virus and for persons who are caring for those who are diagnosed with ‘flu.

* If you must use a hanky,put away the hanky each time in your pocket and wash your hands with soap and water/alcohol-based sanitizers EACH time as above. Wash the clothes and hanky with detergent as usual. The virus survives for two to eight hours outside the human body and so cleaning surfaces/materials /clothes/hankies within this time would be most beneficial.