As several States continue to face swine flu’s onslaught, the Union Health Ministry has come out with a protocol advising the States to vaccinate the frontline health workers dealing with the patients afflicted with the deadly disease. The move aims to safeguard the health officials including doctors and nurses as well as paramedic staff as they are more vulnerable to the virus while treating the patients suffering from the disease.
A senior official said that there are clear evidences that health care workers are more affected by outbreaks like this kind of flu and he/she can infect not only his immediate family but also patients who have less immunity like elders or children. “The advisory suggests the States to vaccinate the health workers with the WHO approved vaccine. These vaccines will be effective for one year while the immunity against the disease will be build after three weeks of immunization,” the official said.
This is for the first time that the advisory has been issued to all the States as the Swine Flu is assuming serious proportions in the country with more deaths being reported due to the disease in several states in the last few days. The swine flu has claimed 585 lives and contracted 8,423 people in this year till February 15.
Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra are the worst-affected states with their respective tolls standing at 165, 144, 76 and 58, as per the official. While Delhi and Tamil Nadu have reported a high incidence of swine flu cases, the death toll in the two states is relatively low due to high level of awareness and a better developed health sector. Health Ministry officials have sent teams to the worst-affected States and have developed appropriate guidelines.