Swine flu scare causing bed shortage in hospitals
NEWDELHI: Even as the Delhi government earmarked 1,000 beds for fever patients who need to be hospitalised and allowed private hospitals to increase their bed strength up to 20%, it’s nearly impossible to get a bed in a hospital for treatment of as even those with mild fever who test positive for swine flu are insisting on getting admitted.
Less than 1% people suffering with seasonal flu, which includes swine flu caused by the Influenza A (H1N1) virus, need treatment for flu-related complications. Most people report mild illness and do not need medical care or antiviral drugs. They recover on their own in less than a week, say doctors.
“Beds are always full because of the patient load in our country,” said Dr DS Rana, chairman, board of management, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. “But seasonal diseases aggravate the problem as most of those who test positive for swine flu or dengue, want to get admitted for treatment. It is hard to convince people that not everyone needs hospital admission.”
The hospital has created an additional six-bed fever ward to treat fever cases in addition to two isolation rooms for H1N1positive patients. The wait time for elective cases goes up during this time from the usual twothree days to four to six days.
Deepankur Mohania, 41, is one of the people being treated in the H1N1 ward at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital since Wednesday. After his fever (around 101°F) didn’t subside for a week, his cough worsened and he developed breathlessness, he consulted a doctor. “My condition was very bad; I couldn’t even talk for a few minutes without feeling breathless. I was also throwing up continuously and that drained me out completely,” said Mohania, a businessman from Paharganj in central Delhi.
Mohania’s tested positive for H1N1, and since his symptoms were getting worse, doctors recommended hospitalisation. “Luckily, a patient had just been discharged before me, so I got a bed. Thank god for it, as I am feeling a lot better,” he said.
Beds in other hospitals are also full as panicked patients insist on getting admitted even when their illness is mild.
“One out of 10 OPD patients require hospitalisation; the rest can be monitored at home with follow-ups. The panic around H1N1, which is a mild and selflimiting disease in a majority of patients, has been driving up requests for hospital admission. But if you convince them logically, seven-eight out of 10 patients tend to listen,” said Dr Damanjit Singh Chadha, head, internal medicine, Fortis, Vasant Kunj.
Almost 90% of the patients are advised to remain in isolation at home.
“We have created an isolation wing in the hospital that has eight