After witnessing a surge in the number of H1N1 influenza cases in 2017, Tamil Nadu is getting into preventive mode this year beginning with basic public place hygiene.
The Directorate of Public Health, which has been propagating hand washing, is now insisting that establishments such as hospitals, shopping malls and theatres, and transportation facilities clean up surfaces that are often touched by people.
According to Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) data, the State recorded a total of 3,315 H1N1 influenza cases and 17 deaths in 2017. This was a manifold increase when compared to the previous year that recorded 122 cases and two deaths.
Public health officials say there has been a significant drop in the number of cases since the beginning of 2018 as compared to last year. As per IDSP data, the State has recorded 74 cases and two deaths as on June 3 this year.
“There has hardly been any case in the city since the beginning of this year. The general awareness of public and doctors towards H1N1 has improved significantly. The numbers reflect that more cases are being diagnosed appropriately,” said V. Ramasubramanian, consultant, Infectious Diseases, Apollo Hospitals.
“We have crossed the summer. With the rainy season and the winter afterwards, we are on alert. H1N1 has a cyclical trend. Though the World Health Organisation has categorised H1N1 influenza as a seasonal flu, there is no let-up in our surveillance. Unexposed population is likely to be infected. This includes those living in sparse localities and those who travel less,” said K. Kolandaswamy, director, Public Health.
The department is continuing to encourage doctors to lift samples for testing, he said.
Handwash to health
Simple measures that go a long way in prevention are what the department has been insisting on. It has been spearheading the campaign to take forward the importance of hand washing. “We have trained our field and health staff on hand washing practices so that they can take it forward to students. This has had a telling effect on controlling spread of communicable diseases,” he said.
Now, the focus is on public place hygiene. “The floors are cleaned but surfaces touched by people are ignored. After H1N1 influenza surfaced, we started to emphasise on cleaning surfaces that are frequently touched. We started with hospitals and insisted that tables, equipment and seats that patients have touched should be cleaned. While government and private hospitals are our high priority group, we are continuously asking housekeeping staff of hotels and shopping malls, and also drivers, conductors of buses and auto drivers to clean the surfaces that are touched by people,” he said.
In countries like Japan, such a cleaning concept is followed in public transportation, he pointed out.
“Places where we lay our hands on such as door knobs, hand rails of escalators/staircases and lifts should be cleaned. If such a cleaning concept in common places is followed, many diseases can be controlled,” he said.