Earlier we used to keep many patients in Isolation Wards who used to be suffering from viral infections including Hepatitis, Mumps, Measles and Varicella etc. Gradually, due to efficacy of National Immunization Program many common childhood diseases have been controlled or vanished. Cholera and plague are unheard of. Polio is eradicated as per official records. Later, we were told that hepatitis cases need not be isolated but healthcare workers should be more cautious while handling such cases.
Then, came the HIV or AIDS cases where we reacted too much and may be unnecessarily. Gradually, the segregation of such cases was also abandoned. Some of us suggest that we should isolate cases like dengue, chikungunya or typhus etc. Perhaps it is based more on fear psychosis than actual requirement. Finally, we have faced many Influenza like diseases with variation in viral structure or its…
