Swine Flu

The outbreak of Swine Flu in India has vexed everyone. According to Mumbai-based Dr. Rajan Bhonsle, the key to this problem is to educate oneself and others about the virus.

Here are few facts about swine flu that you should know and tell others:-

About swine flu?

• H1N1 (commonly known as swine flu) is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by Type A influenza viruses.
• It was first detected in 1987 and is not a new infection.

What are the symptoms?

• Fever, cough, runny nose, sore throat, lack of appetite, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue.

Transmission method? (Is wearing a mask helpful?)

• Easily transmittable through droplets on the skin, direct contact, sneezing and coughing of the infected person. Hence, wearing masks are of limited help until it’s worn as a fashion statement.

Note: However, a well-fitted, FDA-approved mask together with other preventive measures MAY reduce the risk of contracting the flu.

(source- CDC)

What is the best way to keep from spreading of the virus?

• An excellent technique of preventing swine flu from thinning out is by asking the person having the symptoms of flu to take rest at home, so that the virus is not transmitted to someone else.
• Avoid crowded places as virus density multiplies in re-circulated space.
• Wash your hands or clean it with some alcohol-based cleaner on regular basis. And avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth frequently.

• Have healthy food. Consume food (such as beans, nuts, meat, and poultry) that has minerals such as selenium and zinc because it keeps the immune system strong.

How long can a flu infected person infect others?

• The infective period of swine flu is 5 days (one day before onset of the symptoms and 4 days after). Therefore, an infected person can affect others before himself/ herself knowing that he/she is sick
• Patient (adult) may infect others for next 7 days from shedding influenza viruses. Number of days may exceed in children and aged.

Are there medicines to treat this pandemic flu?

• Yes. The US CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) recommends the use of oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza) for this pandemic flu.

What should be done immediately?

• Identification as a swine flu influenza A virus requires sending the specimen to a hospital laboratory for testing. You can refer to the information below to take immediate steps on swine flu infection.

Outbreak Monitoring Cell (Control Room, NICD): 011-23921401

Websites: www.mohfw.nic.in and www.nicd.nic.in
Toll free number 2392 1401 at the National Institute of Communicable Disease

Can people catch swine flu from eating pork?

• No, it’s not a foodborne illness. It is transmitted just like a normal flu — through airborne droplets from a sick person’s cough or sneeze.

Media is just blowing swine flu out of proportion and trying to build frenzy among lay people. Keep in mind, the virus is in the air, no one can stop it — however our body is already developing immunity so there is nothing to panic.

Indeed I am surprise to find people selling masks of Rs 20/- which are available to less than a rupee in the market!

Who is benefitting? Don’t join the bandwagon but stick to science and extend your help in spreading the scientific knowledge to all — this should be the order of the day.

What’s surprising is the fact that the press seems to have completely waived off it’s responsibility in publishing such an advertisement. The fact that an advertisement like this has actually made itself to the print edition of such a premiere newspaper explains why we need more attention towards monitoring of advertisements in the country. Surely, such an advertisement would be laughable if it ended up on the frontpage of the New York Times, perhaps followed immediately by a lawsuit. Why should things be different in India?

As requested by someone, here’s what the advertisement reads:

• 2GB memory card
• 3.0″ TFT Screen, MP3, MP4 & FM Radio
• Breakthrough internet device
• 2 Mega Pixel Digital camera
• Touch screen & hand writing
• Dual sim cards working same time
• Shake function
• Bluetooth, support T-flash card & GPRS system.

Each èphone has an unique IEMI No.

Michael Jackson

The sudden and recent death of MJ had made me curious which instigated me to do a bit of search over the internet. I also glanced through his autobiography, Moon Walk by Michael Jackson (1988) which clarified a lot of my doubts about the great artist.

Michael Jackson is a very popular artist in India. If we would compare MJ with any other popular international artists like Presley, The Beatles, Westlife, Eagles, Backstreet Boys or other such popular international entertainers, most (over 90%) of Indian population knows MJ but a very lesser population (mostly restricted to youth) would be aware of various other artist. I would not go into giving you general details about MJ, but would like to share my thoughts on the various of his aspects.

MJ holds the title of “Most successful Entertainer of All Times” (as of today) with 13 Grammy Awards and 13 number 1 singles. But, his success was attached with lots of controversial happenings, aqusitions and rumors. I would like to throw some light on a few controversies:

Moonwalk, was MJ the inventor?

No, MJ was not the first one to perform moonwalk. Billy Bailey, a foot tap dancer, stars in the oldest record video of moonwalking. MJ had moonwalked in a video song, Billie Jean (Album: Thriller) which lead to many such performances of moonwalk. MJ was not the inventor of mookwalk, but he perfected it in his own way.

Is 1984 fire accident at Pepsi commercial a true story?

Yes, it is confirmed by various news sources (click here to read an article from The Telegraph) that the accident actually took place on 27th January, 1984 which left second and third degree burns on MJ face and scalp. The video had unearthed recently but the news of such accident rumored for over 2 decades now (Rahul had informed me of the incident quite sometime ago). Pepsi had paid MJ a sum of $1.5 million which MJ donated to a burn centre named after him.

Did MJ undergo skin lighting treatments?

There are many articles (click here to read one from MTV) which are published over the internet which states that MJ underwent skin lightening treatments and use to bleach his skin. This, to my knowledge, isn’t true as it was confirmed that MJ suffered from vitiligo and lupus which was the cause of change in MJ’s complexion.

In 1986, there were images revealed of Michael sleeping in a oxygen chamber which during that time was claimed that he did so to slow the ageing process. Apparently, later it was found that it was done so to treat the skin disorder he was suffering from.

Were the sexual abuse allegations on MJ true?

1993: The most controversial question of MJ’s life, which was the prime reason for the decline of his metal peace, public image and to some extent, his career. However, there are many comments on the topic with the recent rumors that Jordan Chandler (the child who accused MJ) has confirmed that he had then lied (click here to read one of them). But, there have been no such announcement by any news (or other such dependent) sources. Anyways, with the amount of resources present, I would infer that the charges were false because the description provided by Jordan of MJ’s genitals didn’t not match (as a result of 25 minutes strip search). Also,the financial condition of Jordan’s father, Evan Chandler, also indicates that it was a way to extort.

MJ had settled the case out of court because of health issues with a financial set back of $22 million ($20m to Jordan and $1m to each parent).

2005: Gavin Arvizo, 13, accused MJ for sexual abuse which dragged him into People Vs Jackson. He was accused for four counts of intoxicating a minor, one count of abduction, and one count of conspiring to hold the boy and his family captive. The trial began on 31st January, 2005 and the vertict was announced on 13th June, 2005 by Superior Court of the State of California. The jury determined that he was not guilty of any charges.

Did Michael convert into Islam?

No, though there are articles (click here to read one from The Telegraph) on the internet which state that he converted to Islam but there is no official confirmation from MJ that he did.

Was Michael killed or did he suicide?

(Still working on this section, please contribute)

All the above are very controversial topics and everything mentioned is purely my view on them. No matter what the case may be but 1 thing is absolutely clear, MJ was used as a object to gain publicity by people like Evan Chandler, Gavin Arvizo, Press & Media and many others. Media had always highlighted the darker side of him and created negitive ripples amongst neutral audience. MJ, at a point of time was so frustrated with reporters that he stated:

Why not just tell people I’m an alien from Mars. Tell them I eat live chickens and do a voodoo dance at midnight. They’ll believe anything you say, because you’re a reporter. But if I, Michael Jackson, were to say, “I’m an alien from Mars and I eat live chickens and do a voodoo dance at midnight,” people would say, “Oh, man, that Michael Jackson is nuts. He’s cracked up. You can’t believe a damn word that comes out of his mouth.”

I can keep on writing about him for ages but now, I would close by just wishing that his soul rests in peace.