Jamshedpur, Sep 15: Eight persons including five residing in city limits tested positive for swine flu on Wednesday night.
According to officials, 20 persons were tested for swine flu in the city on Tuesday out of which eight tested positive after reports came from MGM Medical College and Hospital. The patients belong to Mango, Sakchi, Agrico and Kadma. They are being treated at Tata Main Hospital (TMH).
Following the cases, doctors, nurses and para-medical staff at the government-run MGM Medical College and Hospital have started taking precautionary measures against the spread of this viral flu.
An official said that the district health department is following up on the new cases and it will continue to create awareness about swine flu. Children below five years, elderly persons above 65 years, and persons suffering from renal or heart disease are more likely to develop complications in the event of contracting the swine flu infection.
The doctors and medical staff, including the nurses in the hospitals and nursing-homes have started using masks so as to save themselves from falling victim to the killer flu. The fear of swine flu has gripped the supportive staff of the medical college hospital. It has gripped them so much that some of them are even using cloth in place of a nose-mask.
Those who are using the masks the most are in the Medicine department, where flow of patients with fever and cold-cough is the maximum. At the medicine department, all the staff, including doctors, nurses, para-medical staff, even the home-guard jawans posted there have put up masks.
What has kept the East Singhbhum district health department on its toes is the timing of the outbreak especially with upcoming Puja vacations and around 15,000 city based students pursuing higher education in various parts of Maharashtra (read Mumbai, Nagpur and Pune) and Andhra Pradesh (read Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam) returning homes for vacations.
The Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP) East Singhbhum department has started distributing the personal protective equipment (PPEs) to private hospitals along with medicines.
“We have shot off letters to all the major health cradles to keep ready isolation wards. We would be giving five PPEs to Tinplate hospital. We have sent letters to other hospitals like Tata Motors Hospital, Tata Main Hospital and even Mercy Hospital to send their requirements of PPEs. Stocks would also be kept ready for Mahatma Gandhi Memorial (MGM) Medical College and Hospital too,” said the official.
“There has been no fatal swine flu positive case or even suspected cases in the district. But we are pulling up our socks in order to meet any exigency, if at all, it arises. Our staff are trained in using PPEs for collection of throat swabs. It is mandatory for doctors and paramedics to use PPEs while treating patients with H1N1 viral strain,” said the health official.
