Another person dies of swine flu in Telangana

Hyderabad: A fresh death due to swine flu and other complications was reported in Telangana, where 12 people lost their lives till date since August last year.

One person died due to swine flu and related complications yesterday, a State Government bulletin said here today.

Seventy-six cases were tested yesterday and eight of them turned out to be positive for the virus. As many as 3,398 cases were tested since August 1 last and 197 of them found positive for swine flu, it said

Chief Secretary S P Singh today asked health department officials to conduct a campaign to raise awareness on swine flu and to ensure there is no shortage of medicines to treat patients.

Singh, who conducted a meeting with health officials on the H1N1 virus, told them to conduct tests to determine swine flu at state-run Fever Hospital as well in addition to the Institute of Preventive Medicine (IPM) here.

Singh directed that the Superintendent of state-run Nizam’s Institute of Medical Science (NIMS) be appointed as nodal officer for H1N1 cases and the Gandhi Government Hospital the nodal hospital for treating patients, an official release said.

The release quoted Special Chief Secretary of Health Rajeshwar Tiwari as having said that adequate stock of medicines, kits and other equipment are available in the State. He said there is no need for citizens to panic.

Meanwhile, reports in a section of media claimed Deputy Chief Minister Mahmood Ali was suffering from swine flu.

When contacted, his staff could not confirm it, but said Ali was undergoing treatment for viral fever.