Hyderabad, June 18:Within a span of one month, the first positive case in the country was reported on May 16 in Hyderabad, the capital now has the largest number of swine flu patients in India. A unique aspect clinicians here point out is the presence of a large number of children among the flu positive patients.
Of the 13 swine flu cases reported so far, six are children, all under the age of 10. Thanks to the benign nature of flu virus, doctors have managed to treat and discharge eight patients, while five others are getting treated. Of the five being treated, there are three children including a 20-month-old boy. Three more passengers, with suspected flu symptoms, are awaiting test results.
Screening mandatory
Clinicians, after spending a lot of time with flu positive children and their families, have noticed that due to lesser immunity, school holidays in the US and inability to maintain personal hygiene, compared to adults, children have tended to get the flu virus.
Due to the large number of flu cases, authorities here have made it mandatory to screen all passengers at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Shamshabad. To be doubly sure, domestic passengers, coming from Delhi and Mumbai, are also being screened.
The capacity to hold flu positive cases has been augmented to 100 beds by identifying two additional facilities at Vanasthalipuram and Kondapur.
Meticulous screening
The large number of flu cases is also being attributed to meticulous screening at the airport. Screening began on April 26 and since then nearly 1.3 lakh passengers have undergone medical tests.
On an average, RGIA receives 17 international flights in a day.
Without exception, politicians, actors and sportspersons, who are frequent flyers, too are subjected to screening.
Close contacts of those patients who had tested positive for swine flu are also being monitored by the surveillance team of district health authorities.
Doctors here have observed that flu patients are responding positively to the antiviral drug Oseltamivir. “Most of them are becoming non-infectious within a week. The heartening thing is that till now, there is no evidence of the spread of flu among the general population. So far, our observations indicate that the flu is benign and treatable,” said State Coordinator for A (H1N1) flu virus K. Subhakar.
–Agencies