As worldwide anxiety grew last week over concerns of the spreading swine flu, doctors were busy allaying fears and giving tips on how to remain safe.

Pictured, Dr. Michael DiTeresa examines a patient at TOmball Regional Medical Center. Photo by Justin Elbert.

The World Health Organization (WHO) late last week elevated the alert from Level 4 to Level 5, one level shy of an official pandemic.

As of May 1, the WHO reported that 11 countries have officially reported 331 cases of influenza A (H1N1) infection, as it is now being called.

But as fears escalated and pharmacies sold out of medical masks and anti-bacterial hand wash, doctors maintained that good hygiene was the best defense against infection.

“Washing hands, washing hands, washing hands,” Dr. Alok Krishna, a family practitioner at Tomball Regional Medical Center said. “The most common thing to do is to take common sense precautions.”

Krishna said that people should always use their elbow or tissue to cover their mouth when sneezing or coughing, and to brush their teeth four or five times per day, as well as clean their nostrils.

“All viruses harbor in your nose or mouth,” he said.

Robb White, R.N., C.E.N. and Director of Emergency Services at Tomball Regional Medical Center said the hospital is seeing about a 20 percent increase in patients since the epidemic began.

White explained that the symptoms of swine flu are very similar, if not identical to a typical strain of influenza.

“It’s primarily a respiratory disease, and very contagious, as are all influenzas,” he said.

Confounding the issue, Krishna said, is that this outbreak is occurring during allergy season, and many of the symptoms are similar.

Krishna added that other symptoms may include fever, body ache and sore throat. However, swine flu patients, he said, appear to be suffering from increased diarrhea.

While Tomball Regional has yet to encounter any cases of swine flu, medical staff there is taking precautions with all flu patients they see. According to Krishna, each patient undergoes two nasal swabs to check for influenza.

One swab is examined for the “common human flu,” while the other is sent to special labs to check for swine flu.

Krishna said children are more prone to catching swine flu because their immune systems are not as advanced as most adults.

“The viral count (of swine flu) is so high, the body cannot cope with that,” he said. “A kids’ immunity is not as developed.”

Krishna warned that in the early stages of the epidemic, it’s still too early to tell how much swine flu is, in fact, to blame for the infections and deaths.

According to the Center for Disease Control, between 20,000 and 30,000 people each year die from influenza.

“Right now, the deaths that have been reported are that these are 100 percent related to swine flu,” Krishna said. “Say we’ve had 200 deaths across the world. Are they directed to swine flu? The answer is still no. The problem is that most of these cases, they did have positive swine flu.”

While Krishna acknowledged a “general sense of panic all around” he also said there is “no reason to do a general quarantine. Should we be cautious? Sure.”

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