Jharkhand this year has been hit by the worst ever Swine Flu outbreaks of all times. A total of 40 H1N1 positive cases have been reported in the State so far, with the number of patients almost doubling in less than a week.

By now, the highest number of Swine Flu cases reported here in a year was 35 in 2017, says figures with the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP).

In past five days, the number of patients tested positive for H1N1 Influenza has shot up from 26 to 40, IDSP State Surveillance Officer Rakesh Dayal said on Tuesday.

While Simdega continues to be the worst-hit district in the state, Ramgarh has registered its first case of Swine Flu this year. 

According to the latest data with the IDSP, there are a total of 32 patients in Simedga, four in Jamshedpur, three in Ranchi and one in Ramgarh. Moreover, at least 30 more blood samples are likely to be sent for lab tests to Kolkata by the end of this week, sources said.

Simdega, which witnessed a surge in Swine Flu cases from 20 on February 21 to 32 on Tuesday, is under special surveillance, Dayal said.

“The virus was most probably carried to Simdega from outside. A majority of cases have been reported from one particular block in the district,” he said. Simdega’s Civil Surgeon Dr. Pramod Kumar Sinha said that most of the cases of Swine Flu in the district were reported from the same area. Nearly 20 cases were reported from Thethaitangar block’s Tukkupani village, he added.

“We have issued an alert in the district. All the hospitals here are being regularly inspected,” said Kumar.

The figures are particularly alarming since they have witnessed a rise of nearly 1000 per cent already compared to last year. In 2018, Jharkhand saw only four cases of Swine Flu and one death due to the disease.

Jharkhand has already witnessed a Swine Flu death this year in the State capital. Hitesh Kumar, who worked in the merchant navy in South Korea, died of Swine Flu in the city on January 25.

 Kumar returned to Ranchi in mid-January after being taken ill and lived in an apartment on Kanke Road. After complaining of high fever, chills and severe body aches, he was admitted in Medanta Hospital in the last week of January.

The Health Department has issued strict instructions that no hospital in Jharkhand should take any case of suspected Swine Flu lightly. Hospitals in all the 24 districts have been asked to immediately report if any patient’s symptoms mimic that of H1N1 Flu. Besides, Swine Flu kits have also been made available in all the 24 districts.