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No existence of swine flu: Govt


Bangladeshpost
Published : 05 Jan 2020 09:33 PM | Updated : 06 Sep 2020 12:46 PM

Nurul Islam Hasib

The government health authority has urged people not to worry about ‘swine flu’ as it does not exist in the world. The Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), government’s disease monitoring arm, said influenza AH1N1 virus which was once known as ‘swine flu’ is now a common seasonal disease. “So there is nothing to be worried about it,” Director General for Health Prof Abul Kalam Azad said at a briefing on Sunday. IEDCR Director Prof Dr Meerjady Sabrina Flora and Principal Scientific Officer Dr ASM Alamgir also spoke at the briefing at the IEDCR auditorium in city’s Mohakhali area.

The briefing was organised following media reports that Awami League former lawmaker Fazilatunnesa Bappy died of swine flu. Dr Flora said she died of respiratory problem and had been suffering from pneumonia and respiratory complications and seasonal flu. “We tested her blood samples for 33 organisms after routinely collected from hospital and found H1N1 positive, which is a seasonal influenza in Bangladesh,” she said, adding that April to September is the peak season of the virus, though it circulates in the air throughout the year.

She said the name ‘swine flu’ does not exist anymore in the world. In 2009 H1N1 Influenza was epidemic in the world, that time it was called swine flu but later in 2010, World Health Organisation (WHO) imposed direction to term it seasonal influenza (H1N1). When the virus was detected in Bangladesh again in 2013, experts said swine flu became a “seasonal influenza” (H1N1) in Bangladesh like the other two viruses –influenza B and H3.

But patients with problems in the respiratory system or lungs, those who have diabetes, pregnant women, children aged less than five years, and people older than 65 years are more vulnerable to H1N1. There is vaccine for the prevention of the disease. But maintaining personal hygiene is the key.

Wash hands using soap properly, don’t spit just anywhere, cover coughs and sneeze are some of the personal protective measures the director suggested as the virus passes from person to person through respiratory droplets. It takes two to seven days for the disease to appear after infection. “Flu vaccination can help protect people who are at greater risk of getting seriously ill from flu, like older adults, people with chronic health conditions and young children especially infants younger than 6 months old who are too young to get vaccinated,” Dr Flora said.

“Flu vaccination can reduce the risk of more serious flu outcomes, like hospitalizations and deaths,” she said, adding that they have the vaccine which people can take following doctors’ prescription. Fever, runny nose, sore throat, and cough followed by breathing difficulty are some of the symptoms of the seasonal flu. During winters, people in Bangladesh suffer from common cold which is caused by the rhinovirus, not influenza.