On Swine flu in India - 4

How many persons would an swine-flu infected person who is undiagnosed going to infect on the average? While no exact answer can be given based on available data one can reasonably conclude that this number would be between 2 and 2.7. Since it takes about a week from infection to development of symptoms the above fact implies that the total number of infections would more than double every week unless immediate steps are taken to slow down the spread of infection.

There had been 38 deaths in the week 18-24 August and it is quite likely that the total number of deaths would more than double in the week 25-31 August. The doctors and the public health experts need to intervene more aggresively with new policy measures to prevent a major public health catastrophe.