Swine flu: The impact so far

The disease is hurting people in various sectors like hospitality and IT and is even affecting temples.

The IT industry in Pune has been hit and companies like Infosys and Cognizant have cautioned against unnecessary travel, while Nasscom has postponed an outsourcing summit from August 19 to November 18.

The Vishwa Gujarati Samaj, which represent NRI Gujaratis, has also told Gujaratis to avoid travelling to Gujarat in the winter season, when flu is said to spread faster.

Even temples are not being spared and the Ramanathaswamy temple in Rameswaram is setting up a screening booth.

But fortunately for all of us, people believe that the swine flu is not a very dangerous disease, though it needs to be detected early to stop panic. Towards this end, the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) is working on a low cost testing kit.