The State Health Department, which is bracing itself to tackle A(H1N1) outbreak in Bangalore city, has advised people not to ignore any flu symptoms.
“Our only appeal and advice to people is that they should consult a doctor as soon as they feel they are unwell and have flu-like symptoms. It may be only the common flu that you are having, but it is always better to see a doctor and get treated at the initial stage itself,” the Director of State Health and Family Welfare Services Usha Wasunkar told The Hindu on Thursday.
“The two A(H1N1)-related deaths that were reported in the city on Wednesday were only because the patients consulted the doctors very late,” she said and added “the situation is not alarming and people should not panic.”
A 43-year-old man died of the flu in the city on Wednesday. The test reports of throat swabs of a woman, who died on Monday, also confirmed A(H1N1). So far, seven persons have died of the flu in the city.
Edward Joseph (43), a businessman and resident of HBR Layout, died at the Shifa Hospital on Queen’s Road on Wednesday morning. “He had reported with a history of high fever seven days after getting it,” Dr. Wasunkar said.
Pointing out that the effect of Tamiflu, the anti-viral drug for A(H1N1), is better if taken within 48 hours of developing symptoms, Dr. Wasunkar said: “This person was immediately administered Tamiflu and his swabs were sent for test the same day. But the treatment was not effective because he had reported seven days after getting fever,” she said.
Kalpana (40), a resident of Yelahanka who died at M.S. Ramaiah Memorial Hospital on Monday, also had contracted A(H1N1). She was admitted to the hospital on August 14 with fever, cough, cold and breathlessness. She was on Tamiflu from August 16, sources in the hospital said.
Naresh Shetty, Medical Director of the hospital, said the test reports received from NIMHANS on Wednesday confirmed that she had A(H1N1).
Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Siddaramaiah visited the K.C. General Hospital at Malleswaram on Thursday.
The number of confirmed cases of A(H1N1) touched 211 in the State on Wednesday.
The Government received three lakh capsules of Tamiflu on Wednesday.
