Jamshedpur : Steel city has been put on swine flu alert after fresh cases of swine flu resurfaced in the country.
What has kept the East Singhbhum district health department on its toes is the timing of the outbreak especially with onset of spring season. To keep the deadly malady, which has already claimed more than 60 lives (till April) across country in 2012, the civil surgeon’s office has given important instructions.
Civil surgeon Vibha Sharan, issued the circular, and urged the administration to ban entry of poultry from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where the H1N1 virus has claimed more than 60 lives this year.
“There has been no 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 para-medics to use PPEs while treating patients with H1N1 viral strain,” said the health official.
In the year 2009 during the pandemic flu outbreak across the country, three suspected cases of swine flu were reported and had been sent for laboratory test. Only one youth had tested positive.
“We do not want to take any chances especially it being a vacation season with students and youths coming from different parts of the country to the state,” added an official.
All hospitals have been asked to inform the civil surgeon’s office if they receive any suspected case of swine flu, which is fortunately yet to hit the city.
The civil surgeon has categorically directed Tatanagar Railway Hospital in Khasmahal to take extra care of patients admitted there with high fever because Jamshedpur boasts regular train services to the south and many passengers travel between the steel city and the two southern states.
“In 2009 it was swine flu and in the 2010 it was dengue and last year we were confronting viral fever outbreak so. I have never seen an outbreak of this kind of disease in my medical career spanning more than three decades.
While the number of dengue cases last year,” Dr U K Srivastava, a prominent city doctor. According to experts drastic change in weather conditions and fast depleting forest cover may have let the virus that hitherto confined to wild animals, prey the human beings.
Unusual weather conditions seem to have triggered viral fevers on a large scale with scores of children and adult being admitted to the hospital with such complaints.
With the onset of monsoon complaints of diarrhoea, cough, cold and fevers are common. Moreover the unattended filth and garbage spread all over are some of the major reasons that have led to the breeding of mosquitoes.