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| Swine flu scare hits Jammu | | Three suspects returned home, GMC ill equipped, doctors unaware of guidelines | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Aug 9: With four deaths in a series, as country feels rattled by the swine flu, the deadly scare has pressed panic buttons in Jammu after third suspect being admitted in the Government Medical College Hospital.
While country is debating India’s preparedness in dealing with the swine flu, the problem is more perverse in Jammu –there are no testing facilities in the town and doctors have openly admitted that they don’t have any specific guidelines on dealing with such cases.
After two students were quarantined on Saturday, another student, returning from Bangalore suspecting to be afflicted by swine fly has been admitted in the GMC Hospital
Since Jammu does not have any testing facilities, their samples have sent to National Institute of Communicable Disease, Delhi for test. Two suspects were admitted in GMC hospital by their parents following by the symptoms of swine flu yesterday and one more suspect is admitted in the hospital for treatment. Many doctors preferring anonymity told Early Times that they are not in complete know of the guidelines to deal with such cases.
Three swine flu suspects including two male students and one female student are kept in isolation and are under observation. They were undergoing engineering courses in Bangalore, Pune and Delhi. Speaking to Early Times Medical superintendent GMC Romesh Gupta said that after taking their blood samples they were referred to their respective homes with the instructions to their parents to put them in isolated room as the disease is communicable.
Meanwhile, amidst rising toll of swine flu victims in the country, Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Sunday defended the government’s actions to curb the spread of the disease which has already been declared a pandemic by the World Health organization (WHO).
Speaking to reporters in the capital Azad said, “Swine flu has been spreading (across the world) since April... it came into India later.
We have contained the A(H1N1) virus to a big extent.” “We took steps which other nations didn’t. We screened people coming into India at airports and sea ports,” Azad added.
He further stated, “The WHO had declared it (swine flu) a global pandemic and we can’t escape it. The whole world has given up on swine flu; at least we haven’t. The Indian government has done a good job to restrict the total number of cases to 782 so far.”
Taking note of the serious situation in the wake of the virus’ outbreak in the country, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today met the Health Minister to review the situation.
Meanwhile, a five-member team is scheduled to visit Maharashtra’s Pune city to assess the situation there. Pune has emerged as the epicenter of the virus’ outbreak in the country. As per sources, the PMO is monitoring the swine flu outbreak and looking at measures to contain the further spread of the virus. The PMO is also keeping a tab on the availability of TamiFlu in the country.
Azad also said today that the first victim of the deadly flu in India, Pune girl Reeda Sheikh, may have given the virus to as many as 85 people.
Reeda was shifted from one hospital to another and in the process 85 people contracted the infection from her, the minister said. Azad also accused the Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) coming into the country of hiding their flu infection. He further urged the public to get themselves medically checked for swine flu and get treatment on time in any of the government hospitals.
The state governments in Maharashtra and Delhi are also holding emergency meetings today on the swine flu situation. Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit is due to attend the high-level meeting later in the day.
Maharashtra government is mulling to adopt the Mexican model to tackle the pandemic. The state government is looking at the practicality of the model under which the schools and colleges are closed.
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