Swine flu claims 10 lives in Haryana, eight in Punjab

Eight persons have died of swine flu in Punjab so far in the current winter season, while 10 have died in the neighbouring Haryana.

Though health authorities of both states said they were fully prepared to fight the virus, 15 persons in Punjab and 55 in Haryana are still battling for life. With Punjab being “ill-equipped” to tackle the situation, all samples of suspected cases collected from the state are being tested at the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh. 

However, the state health authorities are now in the process of setting up a high-tech laboratory in Amritsar. “Trials for Punjab’s first swine flu testing laboratory are on. We are likely to get the mandatory sanction from the Central Government within a week,” said Dr Deepak Bhatia, State Surveillance Officer of the Punjab  Intergrated Disease Surveillance Programme.

Punjab Health Minister Surjit Kumar Jiyani said his department was fully equipped to tackle the situation, while Haryana Additional Chief Secretary Ram Niwas claimed that all precautionary measures were in place to check the spread of virus. “Adequate stock of Tamiflu has been made available, ventilators provided and isolation wards have been set up,” Niwas said.

He said all civil surgeons had been directed to report daily to the state surveillance unit, besides instructing private hospitals to strictly follow guidelines regarding swine flu. “The 24X7 monitoring is being done at the level of Office of DG, Health Services, Additional Chief Secretary, Health, and Haryana Health Minister,” Niwas said.

H1N1 categories & Symptoms

A category: Common flu; no need for hospitalisation

B category: High-grade fever

B-plus category: Aged over 65 or those with low immunity such as pregnant women

C category: Have all symptoms of B-plus category besides acute cough; need immediate hospitalisation

PGIMER runs out of testing kits

• The PGIMER has run out of swine flu testing kits due to the heavy flow of samples of suspected cases flooding the institute
• Top health officials of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh have decided to arrange the kits from National Disease Control Centre. Officials have been sent to Delhi to fetch the kits
• Officials of the two states and the UT have also decided to formulate a joint strategy to check the virus spread

Gujarat toll 62

Swine flu claimed nine more lives in Gujarat on Thursday, taking the total number of deaths due to the H1N1 virus to 62 this year, government officials said.