Coimbatore logs five H1N1 cases

COIMBATORE: The district health department on Thursday said five patients were undergoing treatment for H1N1 influenza (swine flu) at various private hospitals in Coimbatore. Health officials said all the five were stable and responding to the treatment well.
Swine flu, which was a concern a few years ago, is slowly resurfacing in the state, where fever cases are on the rise for a while now. Health minister Ma Subramanian had on September 15 said there was no need to panic and adequate beds were available to handle the cases.
P Aruna, deputy director of health services, said the patients testing positive for swine flu were categorised into three groups - A, B and C - as part of treatment protocol. “Only C category patients are admitted to hospitals, as they exhibit symptoms like vomiting and breathing difficulties.”
She advised the parents to rush their children to a nearest healthcare facility if the wards were having H1N1 symptoms and not to send them to schools. “Parents should also communicate the same to the school headmasters.”
According to officials, two of every 20 people attending the fever camps have influenza symptoms like fever, cold, cough, throat pain and vomiting.
A Nirmala, dean, Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital, said there was a drop in the number of inpatients with fever. “We are still getting patients with flu-like symptoms though.”
She said only severely affected patients were given drips or subjected to RT-PCR tests. “The remaining patients are advised to stay at home until their health improves.”