Hyderabad: Even as a team of experts from New Delhi visited two premier hospitals in Hyderabad to assess the situation arising out of a swine flu endemic and discuss further preventive measures with authorities on Thursday, three doctors of Osmania General Hospital were found infected by the H1N1 virus, further fuelling the scare in Telangana.
The latest deaths were reported on Wednesday when a 55-year-old woman from Tolichowki area in Hyderabad died at Gandhi Hospital. Another woman suspected case of swine flu also died in Osmania Hospital. She was admitted in a critical condition, doctors said.
Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy and Mahbubnagar have recorded a total of 19 swine flu deaths and another 173 people were found infected by the virus over the last one month triggering a wave of anxiety and fear among the masses. Only 20 to 30 affected people were undergoing treatment in hospitals while others were treated and discharged, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao told the media after reviewing the situation with officials.
A team of experts from Delhi, including officials from National Centre for Disease Control, deputed by the Union government, visited Gandhi Hospital and Osmania Hospital of Hyderabad and assessed the preparedness of the two institutions to deal with the swine flu cases.
The central team members expressed their dissatisfaction over the situation in both the hospitals and questioned the sanitation facilities of the institutions. They were unhappy with the condition of the swine flu ward and asked the Gandhi hospital officials to take immediate measures to clean the hospital premises and its surroundings.
The visiting officials were also aghast when the Gandhi hospital doctors failed to furnish the details of the swine flu patients who died ever since the endemic broke out.
Later, talking to the media central team members, the team said that there was no need for the people to become panicky as break out of swine flu during winter was normal and it happens at many places. “Swine flu would be fatal only in 20 out of 100,000 cases”, a member of the team said. Medicine and other necessary material was sent to all the districts of Telangana and district hospitals were ordered to refer any suspected case of swine flu immediately to Hyderabad.
The central team was rushed to Hyderabad after Rao spoke to Prime Minister Narendar Modi and the Union Health Minister JP Nadda and requested for help including medicine and expertise in dealing with the situation.
The team will visit Ranga Reddy district adjacent to Hyderabad on Friday.
Rao, urged people to remain calm and not to become panicky and announced that all the swine flu cases will be treated free at the government hospitals.
Meanwhile, anxiety levels among the members of medical fraternity, especially in the government hospital, shot up further when three doctors including a house surgeon were found infected by the swine flu virus.
Junior doctors at Gandhi and Osmania Hospital staged a protest against the lack of response from the state government to their demands for special medical masks and sufficient amount of medicines.
They threatened that if their demands are not met, they will resort to strike. Meanwhile, the state government has transferred the state health coordinator Sambasiva Rao for negligence. The responsibility was handed over to Jyothy Buddaprakash, commissioner family welfare.
