GURUGRAM: The season’s first case of swine flu influenza (H1N1) has been confirmed in the city by the health department.

The 63-year-old woman was admitted to a private hospital last week complaining of breathlessness, cough and high fever and was discharged on Friday. She is currently under quarantine at her home in Sector 51.

Surveillance has now been increased and all hospitals are on alert. Contact tracing was conducted by the rapid response teams in around 50 houses in the area of the patient’s residence and Tamiflu has been given to three of her close contacts. Health officials are required to report cases of influenza-like illness (ILI) or severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) to the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) unit.

District immunization officer, Ram Prakash, stated that this is the first case of the type C H1N1 virus infection in this season. While type A and type B cause symptoms like common cold and do not usually require hospitalization, type C infection can lead to a fall in blood pressure, pneumonia and difficulty in breathing and hospitalization is needed. Prakash said that the patient’s sample was sent to National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in Delhi and it came out positive.

Prakash also stated that isolation and ventilator facilities have been identifiedin private hospitals and there are 62 isolation beds and 52 ventilators available for swine flu patients.

Training has also been conducted for all medical officers for prevention and control of such cases.

Dr Virender Yadav, chief medical officer, said that hospitals have been told not to charge more than Rs 4,500 for H1N1 tests.

Doctors have advised that symptoms of flu should be treated immediately and with care. Some signs of H1N1 are an increase in body temperature, unusual fatigue, sore throat, loss of appetite, headache, diarrhea and vomiting. 

Source: ET Healthworld