Swine Flu

The flu has morphed and is now reaching epidemic proportions

 

Survival of the fittest,” was Darwin’s theory about species trying to remain alive, reproduce better offspring. That is exactly how the virus that causes influenza seems to spread and affect humans as they develop resistance to the earlier strain of their species.

To keep the virulence at its peak the virus seems to have mutated. An epidemic is one in which the disease is caused in a population in a short period of time. A pandemic is the occurrence of the disease across continents and that is what the swine flu or the disease termed as A(H1N1) is threatening to spread across the world.

This virus has crossed over from swine to humans attending to them and then replicated within them and then has started spreading through coughing, sneezing etc.

But the virus does not spread from eating pork and that misconception needs to be allayed. Once the virus is in the human organism it tends to linger around for as short as two days or even a week and then cause a flu like illness. The common symptoms are fever, cough, sore throat, bodyache, chills, headache and fatigue.

The virus can remain dormant and cause complications of the lung tissue as pneumonia and finally cause mortality or death if the lung tissue does not spring back after a severe bacterial infection which comes in as a secondary infection. That is the fear due to this flu but it can cause the severity in about one to two of about a thousand people affected with the illness.

Hand washing when done regularly can clear the smears of the virus which have reached one’s body and later one’s nose, mouth and eyes. That is also enough reason to keep hygiene around the house and if there is a suspect carrying the virus one should be quarantined. Or even better when the epidemic is on even the healthier ones may remain home or keep away from outings as long as they are not required or can be avoided.
Our population is usually exposed to viral illnesses of the respiratory tract and have enough antibodies and resistance to viruses though it is a fact that this virus is different. But the disease causing more than a flu like illness is less common one would say and pneumonia and further complications would be less considering the above fact.

Homoeopathic medicine has left a mark in history right from the time of its discovery. Whether it was cholera and plague in Europe a century ago or encephalitis in Andhra Pradesh, Homoeopathy was on target.

This time would not be different as once all the symptoms that mark the viral illness and the other usual common symptoms that become marked in the populace are noted they can always be corroborated with the pathophysiological symptoms of Materia medica and a remedy would rise to the occasion. As of now, remedies like Gelsemium, Eupa perf, Arsenic alb, Phos., appear suitable if required.

 

Swine flu does not look probable in our country but even if it does step in, the intensity would not be virulent and in spite of that, Homoeopathy would be of help.