'Flu is not a decease,' says Yogi Adityanath amid Swine flu claims nine lives in Uttar Pradesh

Lucknow, Mar 02: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has urged people not to panic over the spread of Swine flu in the state by claimed that "flu is not a disease" and people develop cold and cough due to change in weather.

During the inauguration of a vaccination drive for children to prevent recurrence of Japanese Encephalitis (JE) and Acute Encephalitis (AE) syndrome at Lucknow's Aurangabad, Adityanath said, "I found that there are some number of people dying of swine flu in Meerut. Flu is not a disease. When the weather changes, some people catch a cold. It is flu in itself."

"There is no need to create panic. Instead, people should be made aware about it. People should be told about the ways of prevention and cure, and the health department needs to be alert," Adityanath further added.

In a time when the world is grappling with coronavirus epidemic, India, particularly in Uttar Pradesh, one can see the increase in cases of swine flu. The death toll in the state has reached nine, in which six are from Meerut alone.

According to reports, it is said that annual epidemics of flu result in about 3 to 5 million cases of severe illness worldwide, and 2,90,000 to 6,50,000 respiratory deaths.