MADURAI: The recent death of a man due to H1N1 infection (swine flue) at a private hospital here and instances of H1N1 cases getting reported in different places in Tamil Nadu had made health officials here keep the H1N1 ward ready at Government Rajaji Hospital.
Though an isolation ward was already available in GRH, the authorities have now increased the bed strength by keeping eight beds ready for H1N1 cases. The ward has been fully equipped with necessary equipment, including ventilator support, as H1N1 infection may often lead to failure of different organs, hospital authorities said.
Sources at the hospital said that precautions had been taken to ensure that the infection did not spread outside the ward. “Isolation is also important to keep H1N1 patients free from other infections since they will already be vulnerable,” said a senior official from GRH.
Pointing out that movement of persons to the ward will be restricted, the official said that even doctors and nurses, who will be handling H1N1 cases, have been sensitised once again to the precautionary measures to be taken.
Dean M.R. Vairamuthu Raju and officials from Health Department inspected the ward on Friday to review the preparedness.
On the increasing number of swine flu cases, hospital authorities, however, stressed that no H1N1 cases had been treated at the hospital in the recent weeks. The last reported death at GRH due to H1N1 infection was in July 2016 when a staff of INS Parundu naval air station in Ramanathapuram district died after few days of treatment.
The recent death in the district was of a 38-year-old man from Sivaganga district, who died at a private hospital here on Thursday. He was referred from the Government Hospital in Sivaganga, where the doctors reportedly failed to diagnose that the man was H1N1 infected.
