JAIPUR:
Swine flu has been on the rise, but the good news is that despite a change in the
swine flu virus strain circulating in the state,
mortality rate due to swine flu has decreased significantly from 22.2 per cent to 7.73 per cent from 2016 to 2017.
Health department officials said that had the new swine flu virus strain been more fatal, there would have been more deaths. "There is nothing like that the change in swine flu virus strain is more fatal or dangerous. The same medicine oseltamivir, which was effective in treatment of swine flu earlier, is still effective in treatment of patients diagnosed with new strain of swine flu. If new strain would have been more fatal, then this medicine would not be effective in treatment of swine flu," said the official.
However, health department officials claimed that they have succeeded in bringing down mortality rate due to swine flu with strict surveillance, availability of treatment and diagnostic tests. "We have spread awareness on swine flu along with the available treatment and diagnoses. The swab samples are collected in all district hospitals and sent for testing in medical colleges. The colleges issue report within seven hours," said the official.
Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital doctors pointed out that since oseltamivir tablets have been used judiciously, the community has not developed any resistance against the drug. "The drug is still effective in treatment of swine flu. But, those patients die who have co-morbidity such as diabetes, cancer, chronic kidney and liver diseases," said Dr CL Nawal, senior professor (medicine)
SMS Medical College and Hospital.
On Sunday, 21 persons tested positive for swine flu, including a foreigner. So far, this year 195 persons have already tested positive for swine flu while seven have died. Out of 195, 151 patients tested positive in Jaipur. However, in Jaipur no deaths have been reported yet in 2018. Two deaths each were reported from Pali and Jodhpur, while one death each is reported from Ajmer, Alwar and Dausa.
