The doctors of the Mahant Indiresh hospital here have claimed that three cases of swine flu were detected by them recently. The state health department however is on a denial mode on these claims.
Addressing newsmen here on Monday the Additional Medical Superintendent (AMS) of the hospital, Dr V K Bihari said that on April 02, Saharanpur resident Zahira was diagnosed with Swine Flu similarly on May 22, one Rakesh Chandra, a resident of Kaulagarh, Dehradun was also found to be Swine Flu positive while on July 6 the Swine Flu test of Dehradun resident B B Singhal has come out to be positive.
He informed that for the treatment of Swine Flu patients, a twelve bed general ward and an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) bed have been kept reserved. Dr Bihari said that if more cases are reported then one entire ICU can be kept reserved.
The hospital has appointed Dr Yogesh Dhand of Department of Medicine as Swine Flu Nodal officer. The AMS said that special guidelines have been issued by the hospital management for the care and treatment of the suspected cases of Swine Flu.
The Head of Department (HOD) of Medicine, Dr Amit Verma said that generally the patients ignore coughing, sneezing and fever considering them to be ordinary health problems. He emphasised that there is no need to spread any misconception or fear in the society about Swine Flu. “The people must become aware and understand the symptoms of Swine Flu. They should keep an eye over the symptoms of Swine Flu. If need arises, take consultation from the doctor and get tested as per the need,’’ he said.
The head of Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) Dr Puneet Chandra however denied the claims of the hospital on swine flu cases. He said that sample of only one suspected patient is sent to the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and its report is awaited. He informed that six cases of swine flu were reported last month.
It is pertinent to mention here that the state health department considers only those as cases of swine flu, the samples of which are found positive by the lab of New Delhi based NCDC. Interestingly the molecular lab of Mahant Indiresh hospital is approved by the NCDC to conduct tests of swine flu but the state government has not yet recognised this lab.
Swine flu is a viral disease, its virus is also called H1 N1 and its genetic analysis has shown that it has originated from the animals specially pigs hence it is called Swine flu. The virus spreads from person to person similar to that of seasonal influenza.