Delhi team to tackle swine flu spread in state

Total cases in state since January 2017 is 383 out of which 313 cases were registered from June 1 to June 30. 16 people have died due to swine flu out of whom 10 are from mumbai and the remaining from other parts of the state

Maharashtra government has sounded an alert after the number of swine flu cases rose drastically in the state.

A panel of experts from the Delhi National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is visiting civic hospitals and healthcare centres to check if proper guidelines for treating the disease are followed, the civic health department said. “NCDC officials have asked the civic health officers to inform all private hospital and healthcare centres to give treatment to patients showing symptoms of H1N1,” senior health officer Dr Padmaja Keskar said.

According to the officer, the main reasons for patients dying from H1N1 are late treatment, hypertension, diabetes and cancer. If patients start showing symptoms for more than 24 hours, treatment should follow immediately, Dr Keskar said, adding, “We are communicating with doctors in private and civic hospitals to ensure that swine flu patients get treatment without the need for hospitalization or waiting for test results.”

In the next two days, the NCDC team will visit other districts to analyse monsoonrelated illness. “For controlling the spread of infection, patients showing the symptoms of H1N1 should not go to work as it is a communicable disease,” Dr. added.

With the swine flu virus proliferating along with monsoon, ailments such as dengue, leptospirosis and malaria are also on the rise.

On June 29, state Health Minister Deepak Sawant met officials of the department of disease control committee asking them to give special efforts on holding swine flu awareness sessions in every district for private doctors. “For preventing swine flu and controlling the virus, a regular survey of patients has done in district hospitals and medical college hospitals. A special isolation cell has been formed for swine flu patients,” Sawant said.