The current spell of rain in the State is good news for the farmers but for the beleaguered health department which seems to be fighting a losing battle on swine flu front, the rains and accompanying cold means tough days ahead. The virus thrives in such a weather which could result in an increase in the number of patients affected.
The State Health Department confirmed 17 positive cases of the swine flu till Wednesday. With a death toll of three, the disease in the State has not assumed epidemic proportions as it has in States like Rajasthan.
The Health Department officials hoped that the virus would gradually become ineffective with increase in temperature but their hopes were dashed with the spell of rains which started on Tuesday. The rains brought down the temperature considerably. On Monday, the maximum temperature had scaled to 27.4 deg C which plummeted to 20.2 deg C on Wednesday.
The weatherman believes that the spell of rain could extend till Thursday. To make matters worse for the Health Department the meteorologists suggest that another low pressure area is developing over western Rajasthan and Pakistan which could further bring rains in next few days.
The president of Uttarakhand chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Dr Kuldeep Datta told The Pioneer that the virus persists in the cold temperature and the number of swine flu cases would go up in such a scenario. He, however, stressed on maintaining personal hygiene to prevent the infection from spreading.
When contacted, the State programme officer for communicable diseases Dr Kiran Bisht said that reports of eight suspected swine flu patients were received on Wednesday and all of them were negative. The Dehradun district is most affected by the disease as 12 swine flu cases are reported till date. A worried district administration has issued closure of all the primary schools till Saturday.
48-yr-old woman dies in Haridwar
One woman suspected to be suffering from swine flu died in luxar of Haridwar on Wednesday. The 48-year old woman was undergoing treatment at the Himalayan Institute Trust Hospital for the last three days. On Wednesday the condition of the patient worsened and she succumbed to the disease. The district communicable diseases officer, Dr Madan Bonal told ‘The Pioneer’ that the woman was a suspected patient of swine flu. He said that the sample of the deceased was taken on Tuesday and its report is yet to arrive from Delhi.