Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Jan 4: Amid the ongoing flu season, Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) today advised medicos to use antiviral drugs for flu patients.
The DAK president, Dr Nisar-ul-Hassan while urging doctors to prescribe antiviral medications for flu said that early use of these medicines provide life saving benefits to flu patients. “Antiviral flu medications save lives, but unfortunately they are not utilized. Clinicians prescribe unnecessary antibiotics instead of antivirals to flu patients which is responsible for the growing problem of antibiotic resistance,” he added.
Antibiotics cannot treat flu which is caused by viruses, the DAK president said, adding that early antiviral treatment prevents the risk of serious complications and reduces deaths.
He said Tamiflu can also be used to prevent flu, but vaccination remains the first line of defense. “Ideally, people should get flu shots before the season begins, however, vaccination should continue to be offered throughout the season. Only injectables are recommended this season, as nasal spray, popular among kids and needle-shy adults is not recommended for use as it was found to be ineffective,” Dr Nisar added.
Swine flu (H1N1) virus is now one of the seasonal flu strains and there is no need to raise alarm about it as it is covered in the annual flu vaccine, he said.
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