High Fever, Cough, Sore throat, loose motions, sneezing, leg pain, running nose or/and body pain.
New Delhi: Though high fever is known to be the first sign of Swine Flu however, this time cough and sore throat have also emerged as possible symptoms of the H1N1 influenza.Doctors and diagnostics are yet not able to identify the reasons of change of symptoms, however, they said on Friday, that it could be due to the virus mutating.
Dr Suranjit Chatterjee, senior consultant (internal medicine) at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals said, “This time, many patients are not necessarily having fever as an early symptom. Instead, we found new symptoms such as loose motions also.” This, he told to Times of India daily.
Several other doctors, pharmacists and lab experts agreed to the same however, they said that the change could also be due to the variation in temperature pattern.
Typical symptoms identified for the disease are - high fever, cough, sore throat, running nose along with body ache.
The flu has already claimed 485 lives in the country this year out of the 6298 cases reported.
Who are vulnerable to Swine Flu?
Medical experts say children, elderly people and those who are immune-compromised or suffering from diseases such as cancer, HIV or have undergone organ transplant are vulnerable to the disease.
Dr Arup Basu, chairperson (chest medicine) at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital told to the daily that antiviral medicine oseltamivir should be taken at an early stage. "Once the disease develops in the body, the efficiency of the medicine starts going down," he said, adding even a vaccine, which is preventive in nature, should be taken at least 3-4 weeks in advance as it takes time to build the protection level.
