Hyderabad, July 15: A(H1N1) flu has created quite a scare in the city with employees of several IT companies coming to the AP Chest Hospital here for check up.
As many as 60 techies visited the government-run hospital on Tuesday, while 50 had come for a check-up suspecting their symptoms to be those of A(H1N1) flu, said S V Prasad, Superintendent, AP Chest Hospital.
Talking to PTI, Dr. Prasad said the rush is because of a contact history of one of the employees who contracted the virus from a software engineer who tested positive for the flu virus, he said.
Meanwhile, the A(H1N1) flu scare has forced Internet search giant Google to shut down its city office for two days from Wednesday as a precautionary measure.
According to a company official, Google has announced a two-day holiday for its employees to enable them to undergo screening for the virus.
Over 1,000 employees of the firm were told to contact the hospital after a staffer tested positive for A(H1N1) flu.
He was among the six employees of three IT companies who contracted the virus from a software engineer, who returned to the city from Houston, US, on July 5, health officials said.
The 29-year-old techie, who approached the hospital on July 11 after he developed A(H1N1) flu symptoms, infected employees of the IT companies with whom he worked, they said.
The 60 persons, who turned up at the hospital, were from different software firms.
The hospital is unable to cope with the rising number of suspected A(H1N1) flu cases and those coming for medical check-ups since the bed strength is full and resources are constrained, he said.
Hence, more medical centres have been set up in the city to deal with the cases, he said.
Meanwhile, Dr. Prasad said as on Tuesday there are 22 A(H1N1) flu cases (14 confirmed and eight suspected) under treatment at the hospital.
These include a 28-year-old student, who arrived here from Sydney, the latest to test positive today, he said.
With this, the total number of confirmed cases from Andhra Pradesh has gone up to 31.
Dr. Prasad said they have sensitised other hospitals and provided them with kits and drugs to deal with the situation.
–PTI