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.

Eight swine flu cases detected in Haryana

Eight cases of swine flu have been detected in Haryana, state’s additional chief secretary for health Ram Niwas has said here on Sunday.

The situation, however, said Niwas, was under control and the health department was geared up for surveillance, prevention, identification, testing, isolation and treatment of cases of influenza A H1N1. He appealed to the people not to panic, as the swine flu virus was weaker this time and would end on its own by the end of the winter.

Faridabad civil surgeon has said that of the two swine flu cases in the district, patient Neelam Pathak has been discharged and the other found positive was being treated at Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi. The additional chief secretary, who was presiding over a meeting of the civil surgeons through videoconferencing, issued them directions about the management of the disease.

They have orders for quick response, identification, testing, isolation, treatment of swine flu cases and required to have one public helpline number in their district for people who want to know more about the symptoms and preventive measures.

“The civil surgeons will make an isolation ward each in their district hospitals and make ventilator facility 

available there, since swine-flu patients complain of breathing problem,” said additional chief secretary Niwas.Besides keeping an adequate stock of Tamiflu medicine, they will keep a vigil on the patients who have symptoms of swine flu and advise clinicians to consider the possibility of H1N1 infection in people complaining of respiratory illness that requires hospitalisation.

As a precautionary measure, he said people should cover the mouth and the nose with a handkerchief or tissue paper when coughing or sneezing; wash hands often with soap and water or alcohol-based hand gel; avoid touching the eyes, nose or mouth; stay away from crowded places; get a plenty of sleep; drink a lot of water; and eat nutritious food. 

Director of general health Dr Narender Arora also issued detailed guidelines to all district civil surgeons about tackling swine flu and told them the disease had been divided into categories A, B and C and for each there was a different treatment.

What is swine flu?

The human respiratory infection caused by an influenza virus H1N1 strain — popularly known as swine flu — was first recognised in 2009.

The H1N1 virus is contagious and can spread from human to human. Symptoms of swine flu in people are similar to the symptoms of regular human flu and include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue.

Technically, the term “swine flu” refers to influenza in pigs. Occasionally, pigs transmit the influenza viruse to people.