Swine flu cases on the rise in Hyderabad

Opposition flays government attitude

Hyderabad: The sudden spurt in swine flu cases in the city is giving sleepless nights to residents of Hyderabad. There is a drastic increase in number of patients getting admitted into the government hospitals as well as various super specialty hospitals for the last few weeks.

According to unconfirmed reports, more than dozen patients succumbed to H1N1virus this month alone. However, official sources claim that only three people died during the last two months. Even the State health department two days back stated that the deaths being reported as swine flu deaths were due to other reasons and not H1N1. But on Friday, one female patient named Swarajyam, 25, from Kukatpally was the latest case to be admitted to Gandhi after testing positive. Another five patients with suspected swine flu symptoms are also undergoing treatment at Gandhi according to Dr K Narsimhulu, the nodal officer for swine flu.

Four suspected cases of swine flu are undergoing treatment at Osmania general hospital. Meanwhile, a 45-year-old woman from Kadapa has been tested positive for the flu. This marks the spread of the virus for the first time to places in Andhra Pradesh this season. The woman is currently being treated at Care Hospital, Banjara Hills after tests done at Institute of Preventive Medicine (IPM) showed positive.

According to AP Additional Director of Health (Preventive Diseases management) Dr Geetha Prasadini, five persons died due to swine flu in AP this year. These five deaths include two persons from Visakhapatnam, one each from Krishna, Kadapa and Kurnool districts.

She stated that private hospitals were not sharing information on swine flu cases being treated by them, even after being directed to do so. They just treat the patient and do not bother about their relatives. If the government is given information, it will administer prophylactic Tamiflu for 10 days as a preventive measure, she added.

Accusing the State government of hiding the real facts on prevalence of swine flu across the Telangana State, the Telangana Congress on Friday demanded Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao to convene an all-party meeting to discuss the issue immediately.

Speaking to media persons on Assembly premises here, Congress MLC MS Prabhakar claimed that there were at least 10 deaths due to swine flu and hundreds of others were affected with the diseases. However, instead of being realistic, the State government was trying to escape from its responsibility by issuing a misleading statement through the Director of Health and Family Welfare, Dr P Sambasiva Rao. Further, he alleged that the government hospitals were not equipped to handle the swine flu cases as they lack trained staff and required medicines.

He said the Director's accusation that the private doctors were creating panic among the people regarding swine flu amounts to insult of entire medical profession. He expressed regret that the State government was not willing to accept the reality even after the death of at least 10 people due to swine flu. He urged the Chief Minister to convene the all-party meeting at the earliest.