As winter is coming to an end, five more swine flu cases have been reported at Gandhi Hospital. Out of the five, three cases were referred on January 21 to the hospital from private hospitals after the patients tested positive for H1N1, the swine flu virus.
Of the five patients, three are women and two men. One female patient’s condition is critical and she is now on non-invasive ventilator, doctors at Gandhi Hospital said. The other four patients are stable, the doctors said. As per Gandhi records, five more patients who had symptoms of the flu are now under observation. Their samples were sent to the Institute of Preventive Medicine (IPM) for testing and the results are awaited. Dr. T. Promod Kumar of Gandhi Hospital, who has been dealing with cases, said that no fresh cases were reported on Tuesday.
The number of swine flu cases has been consistently few, he added. “On an average just one or two cases are reported in a week. In winter, the incidence of these cases is normal. There is no reason to panic,” Dr. Kumar said. The H1N1 virus lives longer in colder climates making it easier for it to spread to more than one person, he added.
In most cases, patients who complained of swine flu symptoms either had common cold or pneumonia, Dr. Kumar noted.
“Often the symptoms of swine flu, pneumonia and severe common cold feel similar. We have been sending samples to IPM to make sure no case goes undetected and untreated,” the doctor added. In the past two months the hospital had sent over 40 samples for testing, the doctor said.
With temperatures rising the incidence of cases will go down, Dr. Kumar added. “In summer fewer cases will be reported because the virus fails to thrive like it does in colder climates. In February we are expecting fewer cases of the flu to be reported,” Dr. Kumar said.
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