After a 60-year-old man died of swine flu at Safdarjung Hospital earlier this week, all major hospitals in the city have noted that they have already taken staff consent and subsequently called in for vaccination against swine flu for high-risk staff.
Another swine flu patient, a middle-aged woman who is not a resident of Delhi, has also been admitted to the ICU at Safdarjung Hospital.
In the last two weeks, four patients have tested positive for H1N1, say doctors at AIIMS. “No patient from Delhi has so far been admitted for swine flu, but two patients are being treated in the out-patient department,” said a senior doctor at the hospital.
Two other swine flu patients, from Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, were admitted to the ICU at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital last week.
Doctors say the deceased, Kasganj from Uttar Pradesh, died due to respiratory distress. The Delhi government’s Health department, meanwhile, is yet to confirm that the death was caused due to swine flu.
“The patient was admitted to the hospital in a critical condition on October 7 and kept in the ICU, said hospital authorities, adding that he died on the same night. He was critical and had tested positive for swine flu,” said Dr. A. K. Rai, medical superintendent at Safdarjung Hospital.
Mr. Rai said that ‘voluntary’ vaccination would begin in the hospital by the end of the month. “Currently, vaccination of health workers is the only method to protect them against the virus. We have 500-odd workers who have given their consent for the vaccination,” he added.
According to doctors, the vaccination, which offers year-long protection, will also be recommended for high-risk patients.
Swine flu is a respiratory disease caused by influenza viruses that infect the respiratory tract of pigs and result in cough, decreased appetite, nasal secretions, and listless behaviour. The virus can be transmitted to humans, with symptoms similar to most influenza infections like fever (100 degrees or more), cough, nasal secretions, fatigue, and headache. Vaccination is the best way to prevent or reduce chances of being infected.
Two antiviral agents, Zanamivir (Relenza) and Oseltamivir (Tamiflu), have been reported to help prevent or reduce the effects of swine flu if taken within 48 hours of the onset of symptoms.
Last season, over 4,259 people had been diagnosed with H1N1, while 12 people succumbed to the disease in the worst outbreak since 2009.
