Till last week WHO reported more than 414,000 laboratory-confirmed cases of pandemic influenza H1N1 2009 and nearly 5000 deaths world-wide. It is expected that swine flu may spread further in winter.

Pune, which recorded the first death due to swine flu in India, is still reporting fatalities due to the viral disease. The city has recorded more than 90 deaths till now. As winter in slowly setting in Pune, Pune Municipal Corporation is leaving no stone unturned to combat the disease which spreads in cooler atmosphere.

Mahesh Zagade, Commissioner of PMC, said that any as one does not know much about this disease, there are not many experts to comment on it. But Zagade said that “PMC is always ready for any calamity. We are continuously updating our system and PMC will publicise details in the next two days. But the situation is ok,” he said.

PMC medical sources said that alongwith 10 private hospitals PMC’s Naidu Hospital and Sassoon are ready for any haphazard. R R Pardeshi, PMC’s Medical officer for Health (MOH) said that World Health Organisation has given instructions.

The disease entered India this year so we do not have have any data of the disease. But PMC has all the system now and we are ready for any condition. In the winter season generally number of patients rise, so we are taking all precautions.

Rajiv Dhere Senior Scientist and the Head of the Vaccination cell of H1 N1 said that normally respiratory diseases like cough, cold and fever happen in the winter so the possibilities of infection will be more.

Meanwhile, swine flu cell of State government informed that there was no death due to swine flu on tuesday. Till Tuesday 6 lakh 24 thousand 961 people has been screened for the disease.

Tamiflu has been given to 33,825 patients and 4405 patients have been successfully treated. Till yesterday Pune city recorded 92 deaths.

All American effort—what pune didn’t do
Except for a two week period in August, the swine flu crisis has subsided from the public mindspace. While much of the hysteria was not helpful, the apathy on display is not comforting either.

In contrast, in America, President Obama declared the swine flu outbreak a national emergency which in effect gave his health chief enormous power including allowing hospitals to move emergency rooms offsite to increase the speed of treatment and protect non-infected patients.

America has seen more than 1000 deaths - 100 of them being children - as a result of the swine flu outbreak. The administration, if reports are to believed, is engaging in activity which is not only visible but also pertinent.

Emergency The emergency makes it possible to make decisions easier. According to reports some hospitals have opened drive-up tents to screen and treat patients. Amongst other powers, it allows hospitals to act on lesser information to speed up treatment.

Vaccine in action A workable vaccine is already out in America. While there is considerable anxiety about how many will be vaccinated, there are still 16 millions doses available.

Hospitals see a rush While hospitals are seeing a huge rush, they are also making sure that the uninfected stay safe. For instance, some hospitals have banned children visitors, making the prone group stay safe.

Businesses beware Across America, businesses have been told to make sure that they follow strict hygiene standards. This happened in Pune two for a short period but things look like they have returned to what they were before.

The word is out Most importantly, the authorities have been making sure that the flu stays in the public mind. This has been notably missing after initial surge in Pune.