‘Swine flu took 30 lives, 786 tested positive’

The Gujarat government Monday told the high court that special measures were being taken to tackle the spread of the H1N1virus which causes swine flu. As many as 786 people had tested positive for the virus in the state till September 30, and 30 of them had died, the court was told In an affidavit in response to a PIL filed by one Manasvi Thapar through advocate K R Koshti, the state government told the court that measures, including mass surveillance and setting up of a special helpline number, were being put in place to control the spread of the disease.

The PIL had contended that the state government was not taking enough steps to prevent the disease despite there being a sharp rise in cases. It claimed that lack of infrastructure and shortage of doctors were aggravating the situation.

“Community diagnosis and treatment camps are being organised in remote areas and personal hygiene practices are being popularised in places of mass gathering such as Navratri. Hand sanitisers and first-aid facilities will be provided at Navratri pandals,” the state government’s affidavit said.

Naranpura-based diabetologist and general physician Dr Keyur Shah said, “As per the government mandate, we have been asked to administer anti-viral if the blood count is low in the blood report.

The patient is advised to stay at home. If reports are normal then it is classified as simple viral; however if in 2-3 days the patient does not react to medicines or treatment then anti-viral (Tamiflu) is to be administered.”

Dr Kalpesh Talati, who is a general physician at a private hospital, said, “We are 6-7 physicians in the hospital and each of us is seeing at least 2-3 patients testing positive for H1N1virus every week.

Such patients are advised to avoid gatherings and crowds. Once a patient is tested positive, depending on patient’s condition we isolate him or her to the ICU for treatment and if condition is stable then keep them isolated for 5-7days.” He added, “As per government directive we ensure that the throat swabs to test for Swine flu is checked by government mandated labs,” he said.

As per the affidavit, four rounds of house-to-house surveillance were conducted by district administration and municipal corporations for early diagnosis and prompt treatment. The government further said that 104 helpline number has been set up for people to avail health checkup at home.

Special laboratories have been set up in nine government hospitals, it said, adding that eight private laboratories were also providing facilities to detect the disease, which requires isolation. As against 786 cases reported till September 30 in Gujarat, 1,652 cases have been reported in Rajasthan and 1,167 in Maharashtra, the government said.

The matter will come up for hearing on Thursday before the division bench of Chief Justice R Subhash Reddy and Justice V M Pancholi.

Symptoms
Common symptoms of swine flu include throat pain, cough, fever and weakness while wheezing cough is also seen.