Steel city has been put on swine flu alert after fresh cases of swine flu resurfaced in the city. Five suspects have surfaced with health department taking samples of patients.
“There has been no swine flu positive case but five suspected cases have been reported in the district. These cases are from Narwa located in the outskirts of the city. But we are pulling up our socks in order to meet any exigency, if at all, it arises. Our staffs are trained in using PPEs for collection of throat swabs. It is mandatory for doctors and para-medics to use PPEs while treating patients with H1N1 viral strain,” said the health official.
“We do not want to take any chances especially it being a vacation season with students and youths coming from different parts of the country to the state,” added an official.
All hospitals have been asked to inform the civil surgeon's office if they receive any suspected case of swine flu, which is fortunately yet to hit the city.
“In 2009 it was swine flu and in the 2010 it was dengue and last year we were confronting viral fever outbreak so. I have never seen an outbreak of this kind of disease in my medical career spanning more than three decades,” said Dr U K Srivastava, a prominent city doctor.
According to experts drastic change in weather conditions and fast depleting forest cover may have let the virus that hitherto confined to wild animals, prey the human beings. Unusual weather conditions seem to have triggered viral fevers on a large scale with scores of children and adult being admitted to the hospital with such complaints. With the onset of monsoon complaints of diarrhoea, cough, cold and fevers are common. Moreover the unattended filth and garbage spread all over are some of the major reasons that have led to the breeding of mosquitoes.