The provisional State capital is now under two pronged attack of swine flu and dengue these days. On Wednesday four new cases of dengue and three cases of swine flu were reported by the beleaguered District Health Department.
The district in charge of Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme Dr Puneet Chandra said that four patients undergoing treatemt at the associated hospital of Goverment Doon Medical College (GDMC) here were found to be positive in the Enzyme linked Immunosorbent Assay (ElISA) test, the confirmatory test for dengue. He informed that two patients belong to Roshanabad in Haridwar while one each are from landhora and Jwalapur of Haridwar district. The district health department has so far collected samples of 1562 patients for ElISA test this year out of which eight patients have been found positive for the disease.
Meanwhile three more patients of Swine flu were reported on Wednesday. With it the total number of patients suffering from the disease has jumped to 43.
The district in charge of integrated disease surveillance programme, Dr Puneet Chandra said that 29 patients suspected to be suffering from the disease are at present undergoing treatment in different hospitals of Dehradun. Eight patients are admitted in Himalayan Institute Hospital Trust (HIHT) and Mahant Indiresh hospital while six patients in associated hospital of Government Doon Medical College (GDMC), four in Max hospital, two in Vaish hospital and one at Kailash hospital is undergoing treatment.
Dengue has symptoms of persistent high fever, rashes, headache and pain in the joints. In the acute cases the platelets number decrease drastically which may prove fatal for the patient. The disease is spread by Aedes Aegypti or tiger mosquito (called due to the characteristic stripes on its body). It strikes during day time and experts suggest that people should wear full sleeved clothes to prevent mosquito bite.
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.