New Delhi, Aug 12 (Inditop.com) Swine flu patients and survivors are taking on the virus by networking on the web, updating each other on their fight against Influenza A (H1N1) and advising others on how to avoid it.
Corina McKim from Nevada, US, is one of 370,416 members of the online community – Not Panicking Over Swine Flu.
Having tested positive for H1N1 virus two days back, McKim says: “It’s the flu. If I’d have been able to get my fever to go down faster, I wouldn’t have bothered going to the doctor and wouldn’t even have found out I had H1N1. It’s day three and the fever broke (sic). No biggie.”
Sarah Haruno, another member of the same community who also tested positive for H1N1 virus, said: “I have got swine flu now. It’s nowhere near as bad as I thought. Am on Tamiflu.”
Not Having Swine Flu, Swine Flu, Stop Swine Flu are some of the other online communities that have come up recently.
A few netizens listed the symptoms of swine flu based on their personal experiences.
One wrote: “I have recovered from swine flu. I had a sore throat, fever and was feeling very tired when I went to the general practitioner who asked me to go for the test at the screening centre.”
Sameer Gharkar of India said the swine flu situation here is “not as bad as it is made out to be by the media”.
“Here in India, swine flu continues to dominate much of the media but the general public seem to be ignoring the whole flu crisis,” Gharkar wrote.
Declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO), over 1,000 people have tested positive for Influenza A(H1N1) in India. It has claimed 15 lives in the country, 11 of which have been in Maharashtra alone.
According to the WHO, the mortality rate because of swine flu is 0.4 percent.
While the government and others agencies are doing all they can to spread awareness about the virus, the virtual world too is abuzz with ways to prevent swine flu.
Shanku Das, one of the netizens on the social networking site Orkut, wrote: “Washing your hands frequently helps in avoiding H1N1. Don’t keep touching your nose or mouth, use a handkerchief when you cough or sneeze and observe basic hygiene practices.”
Besides the Internet, SMSes are also doing rounds among students and others on precautionary measures to be adopted to avoid swine flu.
“Use a face mask, use alcohol based sanitizers to wash hands, drink boiled water, have citrus fruits and vitamin C rich food and try avoiding public toilets,” read one of the SMSes being circulated.
