New Delhi: The swine flu death toll in India climbed to 1,198 on Thursday as 40 more deaths were reported from various parts of the country, while the number of cases of the disease has crossed the 22,000-mark.
According to the data released by the Health Ministry on Thursday, the total number of deaths across various states stood at 1,198, while 22,240 persons have been affected by the H1N1 virus.
The death toll in Gujarat stands at 292 with 4,904 people having contracted the disease. In Rajasthan, the death toll has risen to 286 while 5,782 people had the virus. The toll in Madhya Pradesh is 168 with 1,131 cases reported while Maharashtra has seen 170 casualties and 2,005 cases of the disease.
Similarly in Telangana, 59 persons have lost their lives to swine flu while the disease has caused 47 deaths in Punjab. The death toll in Delhi is 10 with the city witnessing a jump in the number of persons affected by swine flu, which stands at 3,220.
Swine flu has killed 51 people in Karnataka and 16 in Uttar Pradesh, where 689 cases have been reported. The toll in Haryana is 24 while Andhra Pradesh reported 14 deaths. Jammu and Kashmir has registered 10 casualties. Five cases of swine flu have been reported in Assam.
There is reasonable worry that the actual figures may be much higher than on records since a number of cases go unreported, doctors say. To prevent the spread of swine flu, the only option is to isolate the patients. But in a country like India, where awareness about the flu and overall hygiene is low, this becomes a difficult process.
“Swine Flu is part of the Influenza A virus family. One does not need to panic if one tests positive for it, as the mortality rate is around one per cent only. With treatment, you can get better and most cases do not require hospitalisation. But a person needs to follow certain instructions so that the chain of infection is cut and the virus doesn’t affect others who can be vulnerable,” Dr Hemant Thacker, physician at Breach Candy Hospital, told Gulf News.
With more and more swine flu cases being reported from across the country, Union Health Minister JP Nadda Thursday chaired a high-level review meeting. In the meeting, the officials assessed reports from states and measures to deal with the infectious disease. The Ministry has asked states to study patterns in mortality with the areas, age groups and section of people that have been most affected, in addition to deaths due to co-morbid conditions.
“The states have been asked to study the patterns as to which areas, age groups and sections of people have been most affected, apart from the data on deaths. The guidelines for vaccination of health care workers treating H1N1 patients have also been provided to the states,” Union Health Secretary BP Sharma told the Gulf News.
Nadda told Gulf News that there was no dearth of medicines and hospitals were equipped to deal with the menace of swine flu in the country.
The Centre also sought a report from the Delhi government over steps taken to prevent any kind of overcharging.
The Delhi government has already cracked the whip after receiving complaints of some labs overcharging for the H1N1 test. It has fixed the rate of the test at Rs4,500 (Dh265) and issued an advisory saying that only those referred by doctors must be tested for swine flu.
However, the pharmacies outside hospitals say they have fallen short of swine flu drugs. They complain that medicine in syrup form to treat swine flu has not been available for five days now and there is a severe shortage of vaccines to treat swine flu.
“More people are getting tested and treated for H1N1. The situation is bad but at least people are aware and going to the hospitals for the check-up. Prescribing the antiviral Oseltamivir lowers the viral load, shortens the duration and severity of symptoms and makes the patient less contagious,” Dr S. N. Gaur, Head of Pulmonary Medicine, Patel Chest Institute, Delhi, told Gulf News.
Meanwhile, in view of the swine flu outbreak, nearly 10,000 lawyers went on a five-day vacation in Ahmedabad.
“As many as 10,000 advocates, who are practising in five courts, including the Ahmedabad district and rural court, metropolitan court, city sessions court, small cause court and family court, will not work from March three to March seven due to the swine flu menace in the city,” Rajesh Parekh, Ahmedabad District Bar Association president told Gulf News.
The Bar Association on Tuesday issued a warning that the recent unseasonal rains could spread the deadly H1N1 virus.
