The swine flu outbreak has put a huge pressure on the state-run general hospitals in Hyderabad, which are witnessing a multiple increase in the inflow of out patients, mostly with upper respiratory tract infections and suspected symptoms of swine flu.
While health care workers do agree that they took some time to start off the blocks, at present, however, the state-run health care machinery in Hyderabad is responding well to the flow of patients.
The three major Government hospitals in Hyderabad - Gandhi Hospital, Osmania General Hospital and Fever Hospital have seen a massive activity. Here is a low down on how each hospital has come up with arrangements to meet the patient influx.
Fever Hospital
For the past fortnight, outpatient inflow at Fever Hospital is ranging between 900 and 1,100 per day instead of the usual 700 to 800 per day. To receive and treat swine flu patients, the hospital has opened an isolation ward to hold 70 patients (40 males and 30 women).
Apart from this, the hospital has also 12 exclusive isolation beds for extremely critical swine flu patients. To reduce the workload at Gandhi Hospital (GH), for the past few days, the hospital has also started receiving referral cases from the GH.
“Right now, we have 32 patients who are being treated for swine flu. Out of them, 15 have tested positive while the results of the others are awaited. All of them are healthy persons due to which they are responding very well to our treatment. My point is that persons with co-morbid conditions should be very careful,” says Fever Hospital superintendent K. Sankar.
The hospital is also diagnosing swine flu patients by running tests. All the additional swab samples that are coming to Institute of Preventive Medicine (IPM) are being diverted to the virology laboratory of Fever Hospital. “On a daily basis, we are taking over 30 swab samples from IPM to test in our facility,” Dr. Sankar said.
Osmania General Hospital
Ever since the breakout of swine flu in Hyderabad, OGH doctors had collected 196 swab samples of suspected swine flu patients. Out of which, 32 have tested positive. Out of the 32 positive, hospital officials said that they had lost 3 patients.
“One patient we lost had Asthma, high BP and sugar. Another woman had post-pregnancy diabetes and hypertension. One had failed liver. Persons with co-morbid conditions are under risk and we are struggling to revive them,” says OGH Superintendent C. G. Raghuram.
The OGH is now capable of providing treatment to 18 swine flu positive cases at a time. Authorities said that there were enough isolation beds to provide necessary support. “Whatever manpower resources we have, we are pulling everybody to handle flu cases. We have 10 patients currently out of which 5 have tested positive while results of the rest are awaited,” Dr. Raghuram added.
The hospital officials maintained that adequate amount of Tamiflu and Fluvir syrup drugs is available.
Gandhi Hospital
In order to cope-up with the patient inflow, the Gandhi Hospital authorities have opened special swine flu outpatient services. Influenza Like Illness (ILI) clinics have been opened exclusively at the hospital to segregate such patients from normal patients.
On the first day of ILI clinics opening, close to 300 patients turned up with swine flu like symptoms out of which already 26 swab samples were collected and sent for testing for swine flu. Three doctors with supporting nurses and paramedics have been posted at the ILI clinics to receive them.
This is apart from its daily dose of outpatient inflow that is ranging anywhere between 1,200 to 1,300.
The hospital’s Acute Medical Care unit with an ability to treat 30 patients is already filled. Since the outbreak of the swine flu, the hospital has witnessed 13 patient deathss.
“Only 2 patients who died here were ours while the rest were brought from private hospitals at the last minute. All of them were brought in very critical condition. Some of them are dying even before we can give them ventilator support. We have five ventilators with us and it is enough,” says Dr. Narasimhulu, the swine flu coordinator at Gandhi Hospital.
