Vol. 7, Issue 9, Part A (2021)

Abstract
Swine flu (H1N1 influenza) is a respiratory disease caused by viruses (influenza viruses) that infect the respiratory tract of pigs and result in nasal secretions, a barking-like cough, decreased appetite, and listless behavior. It is caused due to new influenza virus called H1N1 virus. Swine flu virus targets the body's respiratory cells and damages the lining of the respiratory tract, leading to swelling and inflammation of the tract. Identification of disease is based on clinical symptoms and confirmation is done by various laboratory tests using PCR based kits. Treatment mainly involves use of different Antiviral drugs along with involvement of Indian system of medicine to some extent. The best treatment for swine influenza infection in humans is prevention by vaccination. Although vaccination is the best way to prevent the swine flu, if, in the future, vaccine supplies do not meet demands, there are some things people can do to prevent infection. Without vaccination, the best strategy is to not allow any virus type to contact a person's mucus. Infected people can wear surgical masks to reduce the amount of droplet spray from coughs and sneezes and throw away contaminated tissues (WHO 2009). Also we can kill or inactivate the virus before it reaches a human cell by using soap and water to clean our hands; washing clothing and taking a shower will do the same for the rest of our body. Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer if soap and water are not readily available, Globally, India was one among the most affected countries for cases and deaths of swine flu (H1N1 influenza) during 2009 influenza pandemic with lot of public hype and panic. Keeping these things in view a quantitative, quasi-experimental two group pretest posttest research design study was conducted to assess the knowledge regarding management of Swine Flu (H1N1 Influenza) for which 60 subjects were selected by simple random sampling. After data collection structured knowledge questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge among both the groups (control and experimental group). The data was analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics using chi-square and t-test. The findings revealed that majority of the study subjects 27(90%) had excellent knowledge, 3(10%) had good knowledge and none of the subjects had neither average nor below average knowledge with posttest mean score 43.37, median 44 and standard deviation 2.17 in experimental group. Study concludes that there was gain in knowledge among students after importing self-instructional module. The study also concluded that there was statistically no association was found between age, Residence, Family Income and source of information of students with their pre-test knowledge scores (p>0.05).