PUNE: August is turning out to be the deadliest month for the state as far as swine flu is concerned.
As many as 11 people succumbed to the dreaded disease in Maharashtra in August, taking the state’s casualty count to 21 this year so far. Besides, 79 new cases of swine flu (H1N1) were recorded in the state in the given month — a steep rise when compared to just 40 cases till July.
Moreover, a total of 15 patients with swine flu are currently on ventilator support at various hospitals in the state, including 10 in Pune city and three in Pimpri
Chinchwad.
“We held an urgent meeting of health officials against this backdrop (the sharp rise in cases) and have directed them to treat every symptomatic case,” Shashikant Jadhav, joint director of state health department, told TOI.
The officials have been directed to administer oseltamivir (popularly known as Tamiflu or Fluvir) within 48 hours if a patient has swine flu-like symptoms and has no other co-morbid condition. “Besides, we have asked the officials to administer the drug within 24 hours if the patient has other co-morbid conditions, along with unrelenting
influenza-like illness. It has also been seen that delayed treatment can lead to complications,” Jadhav added.
State health department has vaccinated 1.28 lakh high-risk individuals against the virus this year so far. “We aim to step up the vaccination in view of the significant rise,” Jadhav said.
The health officials said a large number of people who succumbed to swine flu also suffered from other associated illnesses (co-morbid conditions). “Therefore, covering such ‘at risk’ people in the vaccination programme is a prudent step,” state surveillance officer Pradip Awate said.
Health activists, however, said the vaccination alone won’t help. “The state health department should also focus on educating people about adopting precautionary measures, including frequent washing of hands and avoiding direct contact with people showing influenza-like symptoms. But not much has been done on this front,” activist Sanjay Dabhade said.
Only throat swabs of critically ill suspected patients are sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) for testing. Suspected patients, who are not critically ill, are administered oseltamivir without testing the throat swab.
Picture for representational purpose only.
