New Delhi: Viral diseases like Japanese Encephalitis and dengue are far more dangerous that the swine flu. Yet queues outside hospitals are only getting longer simply because of fear.
Even a mild cough today has people worried. But doctors say that in the ensuing panic what we've overlooked is the number of patients who have been cured.
A fact which indicates that people are slowly developing immunity to the virus which has already entered the community.
"So many people are coming and everyone wants to get tested, what we are saying is don't panic, cure plus impact," said Dr Sanjeev Bagai, peadaetrician.
In fact doctors say that the more number of people get exposed to the virus now the better, since it is still mild. So, in case the virus mutates and become virulent, the community will be able to fight it better.
"In fact if it's a mild infection then it's better to let the virus circulate in the community so that the whole community develops immunity and protects large portions of the population. This is called herd immunity. It will cause less mortality and morbidity," said Randeep Guleria, Prof medicine, AIIMS.
Currently, even though cases are on the rise in India, there is no reason to panic. Not everyone needs to be tested and only those who show serious symptoms need to be hospitalised.
WHO says that nearly two billion people are expected to be infected in the next couple of years. So, prevention is better than panic.