Intensive care specialist at Salt Lake hospital down with swine flu, in isolation ward

KOLKATA: An intensive care specialist at AMRI Hospitals-Salt Lake was diagnosed with swine flu on Wednesday, a day after he came down with high fever, coupled with excruciating body ache, on Tuesday. After a test confirmed him to be H1N1-positive, he was admitted to an isolation ward at the hospital.

“I had fever with 101-degree temperature, along with headache and body ache, from Tuesday morning. A H1N1 test confirmed swine flu,” the doctor said.

AMRI has had six swine flu patients over the past 10 days and five, including the doctor, are now under treatment. At least two other private hospitals off EM Bypass have around five swine flu patients. Pulmonologists and doctors working in intensive care units are catching the virus due to the frequent exposure and contacts with patients. This, despite it not being a swine flu season, said doctors.

The city has been witnessing a spurt in swine flu cases, sending scores of patients to hospitals. Doctors in at least two private hospitals, exposed to H1N1 patients, have been infected with the virus. At least three swine flu deaths have been recorded in Kolkata since early January.

Experts found the outbreak of the disease surprising, given that it was not the swine flu season. “In 2016, we had several deaths due to the virus. Swine flu or H1N1 is an airborne infection, which spreads fast and easily. In a congested city, like Kolkata, the number of cases can multiply in a matter of days,” warned AMRI Hospital consultant Debashish Saha.

He added that crowded places, such as schools, colleges, auditoriums, public transport and shopping malls, were the most likely places, where the virus could spread.

“Children should be made to wear masks to schools. You can’t avoid every public place. So, it’s necessary to be cautious,” Saha said.

The state recorded 130 swine flu cases in 2009, which witnessed a major outbreak across the country. More than 10 cases were reported in 2015, while over 100 cases were reported from Bengal last year.

Currently, most of the swine flu cases are being reported from South and North 24 Parganas and from south Kolkata. It was in November last year that a 49-year-old resident of Salt Lake’s FE Block died of H1N1 at a private hospital in Salt Lake.

The second swine flu death took place in December last year, when a 63-year-old patient from Dum Dum died at a Salt Lake hospital.