Is swine flu really scary or is market creating the panic to sell the remedy?

News about people dying in swine flu across the country have created a panic in every quarter. The toll is getting higher and higher and the supply of the remedy is not smooth, the media has been reporting, contributing more to the rising panic. [What is swine flu? How can you protect yourself from it?]

But is the picture really as scaring as it is being projected? There are a number of other diseases in this country that are claiming lives or adversely affecting people. Are those cases getting an equal coverage like swine flu?

The panic about swine flu is increasing every day. Whenever we step out of our home, we see people wearing masks or crowding doctors' chambers with a single question: "I have got fever. Is it swine flu?"

Is the media going overboard on its coverage on swine flu? The presentation of the news is actually misleading the common man.

How?

It is being said that the number of people affected by swine flu in India is over 10,000 and the death toll is nearing 1,800. The figures are worrying no doubt but is the media equally reporting the instances where people affected by swine flu are getting well with the help of a minimum or no medication?

We have actually done a very little to identify the exact number of people getting affected by the swine flu virus and hence ignoring the number of people who are getting well without facing a threat to their life. So why treat the disease as a pandemic and create panic all around?

According to reports, the swine flu was labelled a pandemic by the World Health Organisation in 2009 but subsequent research was made on the disease and it was seen that 0.02 per cent has actually died of swine flu. In India, the number could be a bit more but that's because we are yet to have the infrastructure to diagnose it completely.

So why are we creating so much noise over swine flu while there are diseases that are more threatening?

Is there a hidden game somewhere to create a market for the remedy for swine flu? Why is there no similar noise over diseases like tuberculosis, measles, diarrhea or anemia that are far more deadly than swine flu? Is it because the remedy to these diseases is more cheaper and government funded?