The Directorate of Public Health (DPH) has asked medical officers to keep an eye out for H1N1 influenza cases and initiate Oseltamivir treatment at the earliest. They should also conduct house-to-house surveillance for 10 days to detect further cases.
Guidelines issued
The directorate has issued guidelines to health officials as part of prevention and control of H1N1 influenza.
According to the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme data, there were 232 H1N1 influenza cases and six deaths in Tamil Nadu till October 7 this year.
The directorate has put across case-based control measures for health officials.
They have been asked to immediately organise contact treatment for all H1N1 case contacts and carry out disinfection. Effective treatment should be made available in tertiary care facilities.
The department has insisted on orienting all doctors, nurses and housekeeping staff, and focus on hospital disinfection protocols.
“We are continuing to stress on surface cleaning particularly in hospitals. We have insisted that housekeeping staff of hospitals, hotels, schools and colleges, marriage halls and theatres clean the surfaces frequently,” said K. Kolandaswamy, Director of Public Health.
Meanwhile in Nagercoil, a retired woman professor was admitted to the Government Medical College Hospital with symptoms of swine flu.