With swine flu raging in India’s Uttar Pradesh, the state’s chief minister has made quite an eyebrow-raising statement, saying that a flu, whether a swine one or any other of its variations, is no different from an ordinary cold.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath, one of India’s most popular governors and member of PM Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), scolded media for sowing “panic” over the growing number of swine flu cases in the state, as he launched a “health fair” to be organized at dozens of primary health centers across the state on Sunday.
While the effort is also aimed at tackling the ongoing outbreak, that has claimed at least ten lives in Uttar Pradesh with over 70 reportedly testing positive for the virus, Adityanath sought to downplay the rising concerns over the old/new health scare.
“Flu is not a disease. When the weather changes, some people catch a cold. It is flu in itself. Based on what it causes, we call some as swine flu or bird flu or by any other name,” the politician said, as cited by the Indian Express.
The chief minister demanded media stop triggering mass hysteria over the outbreak, suggesting they would rather raise awareness about the ways people can protect themselves from falling victim to the said flu.
“People should be told about the ways of prevention and cure, and the health department needs to be alert”
While cold and flu share a lot of symptoms, flu’s are usually much harsher than that of a cold. Serious complications that require hospitalization are far more likely to result from a flu, than from a cold, as those suffering from a simple runny nose rarely develop pneumonia or similar life-threatening infections. Both are respiratory illnesses, but they are caused by a different set of viruses.
Local media report that at least 71 people, including 18 members of a single battalion of the state’s military police, tested positive for the swine flu in Meerut, the city in Uttar Pradesh, hardest-hit by the outbreak, and more have been taken to hospital with flu-like symptoms. Out of precaution, some 370 members of the battalion were given flu prevention drugs and banned from leaving the campus, Meerut Chief Medical Officer Raj Kumar reported Saturday.
Swine flu is estimated to have claimed over half a million lives since it crossed over to humans in 2009.
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March 01, 2020 at 04:36PM
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‘Not a disease’: Top Indian official says flu caused by ‘changing weather,’ blasts media for fanning panic
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March 01, 2020
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