by Dr Pandula Siribaddana

Created on: February 13, 2010   Last Updated: February 14, 2010

Swine flu, as we all know is actually a type A influenza virus that transmits from one person to another through respiratory droplets. The medical term used to describe this disease is A(H1N1) and in June 2009, the WHO raised its status to a ‘pandemic’, as it was detected in more than 3 countries across 2 different continents defined by the WHO.

Many argue this disease to be the most widely spread ‘pandemic’ of all time and its spread was supported well by the enormous travelling done by the humans in both air as well as from the sea. The increased population density also played a vital part in its spread as it made public places become potential sources of infection.

At the same time, swine flu was not able to unleash the terror which was seen in early pandemics due to the human society being at a technologically and scientifically advanced era than in the times where previous pandemics have taken place.

Science behind prevention…..

With all these scientific advancements and technological know how, humans still found it difficult to curtail the spread of the swine flu and to devise a treatment plan to cure the disease completely. Thus, the development of the human race was seen in the approach taken towards tackling the pandemic state by means of vaccinations as well as by the massive campaigns which was followed closely by the world media.

Thus, the science behind such focus towards prevention would be its effectiveness in tackling swine flu better than waiting for it to be treated.

Preventing swine flu…..

In a way, people were forced to engulf these preventive measures as they were facing an enormous threat in possible fatalities, morbidness, economic losses, disruption to the flow of the society as well as uncertain future events. Such preventive measures ranged from simple hand washing techniques, good cough etiquette, wearing face masks and respirators, to being able to recognize early symptoms of influenza viral infections.

At times, the preventive measures had to take drastic turns in the direction of breaking the trend in the disease spread and sometimes these turns made schools and workplaces to be vacated for few days and to isolate patients till such symptoms subside.

The preventing measures were implemented not only at local settings but also at cross border entry and exit points. Thus, installing body heat detectors to identify people with fever symptoms was another instance where preventive measures were given the utmost importance in tackling the disease state.

Lastly, being a viral infection, the existing retro-viral drugs as well as other supportive measures were not adequate to tackle the disease burden exerted by such pandemic influenzas and thus considering the prevention being better than the cure seems to be both prudent as well as cost effective in the current ‘swine flu’ pandemic.

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