A 27-year-old man died of suspected swine flu while being shifted to Hyderabad from here on Saturday.
The condition of the man, G. Sivakrishna hailing from Jagarlamudipalem village in J. Pangalur mandal in Prakasam district, worsened on Friday.
He succumbed to his illness while being shifted to the Gandhi Hospital in Secunderabad, on Saturday afternoon, District TB Control officer T Ramesh told a media conference here. “People need not panic as swine flu on its own does not cause death. Children and old people with swine flu and other infections usually succumb to the flu due to lack of immunity,” Dr Ramesh said.
A private hospital here, where he was undergoing treatment for the last two days sent swab samples to King Institute of Preventive Medicine and Research, Chennai, for diagnosis. The man working in a quarry in Yelchur near Santamagalluru, was under treatment for the last 15 days in private hospitals in Medarmetla, Addanki and Ongole.
“The symptoms of swine flu in people are similar to the symptoms of regular flu and include fever, cough, sore throat body aches, headache, chills and fatigue,” Dr. Ramesh said, adding patients should immediately consult a doctor for treatment. Such patients should not move in the public.
An epidemic team of doctors rushed to the sleepy village as also Yelchur and distributed Tamiflu to the relatives and friends of the deceased. Doctors and nurses who treated him were also given Tamiflu as a precautionary measure, he said.
All public health centres in the district were put on alert.
