Swine flu fatalities continue to get reported in Hyderabad. On Wednesday, four persons, two each at Osmania General Hospital (OGH) and Gandhi Hospital, died, taking the overall death toll to a whopping 32 this January alone. A 55-year-old male swine flu positive patient from Rahimpura near Asifnagar, who was admitted to OGH died while another 90-year-old woman from Kishanbagh also succumbed to complications arising out of the H1N1 virus.
At Gandhi Hospital, two women, one 50-year-old and another woman aged 80 died due to complications arising out of swine flu, health authorities confirmed. The outpatient wings of Gandhi Hospital and OGH are teeming with patients from upper respiratory ailments, senior doctors said. At present, over 35 swine flu patients admitted at Gandhi Hospital are under treatment.
By rough estimates, there are over 200 people in Hyderabad who have tested positive for swine flu and are receiving treatment in various hospitals.
‘Epidemic not as intense as in 2009’
The official spokesman for swine flu and Director of Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences L. Narendranath told a press conference on Wednesday that 22 out of 57 swab samples tested on Tuesday also reported positive. The government will continue to take preventive measures despite the disease showing signs of stabilising. Corporate hospitals were told to be alert.
Stating that the epidemic was not as intense as in 2009 when 10 per cent of critically ill patients died, Dr. Narendranath said the percentage now had not even crossed 3.64 per cent. The number of distress calls on ‘104’ which had peaked to 400 had come down in the range of 10 to 40. There was no shortage of drugs as they were stocked in adequate quantity in all hospitals. The buffer stock in Hyderabad was also augmented. The Central government had despatched the testing kits that were requisitioned by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao. Another testing machine was getting ready at Fever Hospital. Each machine could handle 180 samples a day but they were loaded with not more than 150 a day. Dr. Narendranath attributed the check on swine flu to the preventive steps taken by the government.
