Swine Flu attains epidemic proportions, claims 84 lives in the state of Rajasthan

Rajasthan is in the grip of swine-flu. So far, the menace of Swine flu has claimed lives of 84 people across the state. According to an ANI report, between 1 January to 2 February, over 2,289 positive cases of the disease have been reported from Rajasthan. The swine flu in Rajasthan has almost reached epidemic proportions but the state government has remained steadfast in not acknowledging the problem.

Swine flu is also known as the H1N1 flu. It is a human respiratory infection caused by the Swine Influenza Virus (SIV) that originated in pigs but spread primarily from person to person. The H1N1 virus is highly contagious. The symptoms of H1N1 include cough, sneezing, fever, fatigue, diarrhea, sore throat, and body ache among others.

According to a reuters report, worst affected area is Jodhpur district, which recorded 23 of the 76 deaths in the state in January.

According to Times of India report, Rajasthan is one of the worst-affected states due to swine flu as 42% deaths reported in the country happened in the state. Rajasthan’s Health Minister, Raghu Sharma, while talking about swine flu cases in the state said, “We’ve put up ventilators, made isolation wards and put up more than 900 beds separately for swine flu patients. I’m monitoring the situation myself. Mass awareness is necessary, treatment is possible on time.”

However, it seems the situation is still out of control from state government’s hands. The opposition party is attacking the Congress government over the issue of H1N1. Both the ruling and the opposition parties are indulged in blame game. Former health minister Kalicharan Saraf accused the current health minister of being lackadaisical in fighting the epidemic in the state.

Last month, former CM Vasundhara Raje also attacked the Congress government over its failure to tackle Swine flu menace in the state. She said, “The state is in the grip of swine flu which is spreading at a fast rate, while the Congress government is on a ‘resting’ mode.” She also said, “Had the Congress-led state government been alert, swine flu would not have claimed so many lives in the state.”

Strangely enough, the media has not been eager to rake up the issue as well besides some reports here and there. The level of outrage is different, maybe because the state does not have a BJP ruling government. If this kind of tragedy would have happened in any of the NDA or BJP ruling state, the media furor can easily be imagined. However, there seems to be no urgency either on the part of government or the media regarding this epidemic.

There are many other important issues which are causing problems to the people of the state, but instead of addressing those issues the state CM is more interested in issuing warnings to the protesters who are raising those issues.

For more details: Ashok Gehlot threatens protesters with indefinite jail time