There is no need to panic as the State Government is taking all possible measures to tackle the spread of swine flu and dengue, said Health Secretary PK Meherda after a review meeting here on Sunday.
Meherda said most of the swine flu cases reported in the State are migration cases. Several steps are being taken to create awareness about the disease among people.
The Health Secretary further said vaccinations are only being administered to handlers like doctors and paramedical staffs who come in direct contact with the swine flu patients. But he advised people not to get vaccinated without doctors’ advice.
He informed that swine flu has claimed eight lives in the State so far.Speaking about the dengue situation, he said 370 persons have been tested positive with two deaths reported in 2017. A total of eight people had died of dengue while nearly 4,000 positive cases were reported in 2016.However, though he Health Secretary said sufficient vaccines are in stock, there is no stock of vaccines in the Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar which has triggered resentment and panic among the patients.
Superintendent of the hospital Manoranjan Das said the 100 vaccines which were there in the hospital were exhausted as they were administered to the staff and 300 more vaccines are being procured.
To make matters worse, vaccines are in short supply in the open market.