Hyderabad: Authorities in Hyderabad have urged people to be alert against the bout of cold and severe cough in view of the death of three swine flu patients in the city on Thursday.
Doctors at the government Gandhi Hospital, where three patients including a pregnant woman died, have said people should not take colds and coughs lightly as they could also be the symptoms of H1N1 virus, commonly know as swine flu.
Dr K Subhakar, state coordinator for swine flu, said that the H1N1 virus could be more virulent this year.
Doctors said that the two male patients in the age group of 42 to 44 were first admitted to private hospitals and brought to Gandhi Hospital after their condition became terminal. “They were here hardly for six hours”, a doctor said.
But the relatives of one patient from Siddipet town in neighbouring Medak district said that when they brought the patient, staff at Gandhi hospital did not admit him on the ground that no ventilator was available leading to his death without treatment.
The other victims include a 25-year-old pregnant woman form Jeedimetla and a man from Uppal, both on the outskirts of the city. Two more patients were undergoing treatment at the Gandhi hospital.
Though swine flu has been under close observation in the state since 2010, it is first time that so many people died in the city at once.
The lack of sufficient ventilator has been one of the glaring shortcomings of government hospitals in Hyderabad and elsewhere in Telangana forcing the families to rely on the exorbitantly expensive private and corporate hospitals.
Dr Narasimhlu, nodal officer for swine flu at Gandhi, said that there was a spurt in the flu cases since last month but no reason could be found for that.
