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A flu lessons from Panchgani school |
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Contributed by Hon. Secretary
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Thursday, 13 August 2009 |
MUMBAI MIRROR
Cover StoryWednesday, August 12, 2009
By Santosh Andhale
On the day Mumbai recorded its second swine-flu related death, a few cool lessons from this school where 17 students were diagnosed with the infection and went on to get well.
If reports of swine flu deaths across the country have scared you, read
this story to see how easily the disease can be cured if precautions are taken
at the right time.
Seventeen boarding students have survived swine flu at St Peter’s School,
Panchgani, and only because school authorities were quick to react when they
started showing symptoms like persistent fever, cough and cold. When the boys
didn’t get well after being treated by school doctors at the campus hospital,
they called in senior doctors who took the students’ throat swabs.
Two days later, they confirmed that 17 out of 32 affected students had tested
positive for swine flu. The school immediately put the 17 students in two
quarantine rooms. Suspected swine flu cases were kept in another room.
Tamiflu tablets for five days and a two-week quarantine were enough to put the
boys back on their feet, along with a good dose of ‘tender loving care’ from
school principal Nitin Salvi, whose son was among those quarantined.
The school authorities tried their best to keep the students occupied in the
isolation ward with games and good food.
“We took maximum care to keep the students happy in the quarantine ward. I had
to play father and school principal at the same time. According to our doctor’s
advice, we provided the students with a high protein diet. We also gave them
vegetable soup to build immunity.
Thankfully, all the students who tested positive are now cured. The
health department team visited us and only after their green signal did we
discharge students from the isolation ward. All the students are doing well,”
Salvi said.
“From my experience with swine flu, I can say that if people get proper
treatment, they do not need to worry at all,” he added.
Incidentally, a team of 22 students from the school had visited the National
Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA) in the United States for a
workshop in May. But no one fell ill after their return.
A survivor's tale
“When I fell ill on July 10, I thought it was the usual cough and cold we get
in the rainy season, because Panchgani is very cold. I took medicine from
school doctors. Then, other doctors came and took our throat swabs,” recalls
Swapnil Salvi, son of school principal Nitin Salvi.
“They then put us in a separate room. I was scared and didn’t understand why
they were isolating us,” he says. “They gave us Tamiflu tablets. After a couple
of days in quarantine, we got used to the environment. I was worried about our
exams, though, and surprised when our class teacher said I could take it
sitting in that room itself. So all of us began studying hard in quarantine.”
The one thing the nine-year-old recalls about his fight with the disease is
“not much discomfort and fun in the isolation ward”.
“It was like any another fever - the same symptoms - nothing to be
scared about. Doctors knew I had the disease, but up to two days, nobody told
me. I actually enjoyed my time in quarantine, playing indoor games like chess and
carrom with 10 other students in the room, eating boiled eggs, meat, paneer,
chicken and drinking hot milk,” he says.
“We were given story books and food of our choice. When the Tamiflu tablets
stopped, we had to take B-complex capsules and wear masks. This made me a
little unhappy… Why were the doctors insisting on masks, I thought.”
“After 14 days, we were allowed to roam around the campus. One of my friends
went home. Looking at television channels and newspapers, I saw people were
panicking because of swine flu. But for me, it passed off easily enough.
However, I still wonder how I got it in the first place,” he says.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 17 August 2009 )
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