Swine flu cases surge, govt says 'don't panic'

Swine flu cases showed a sharp rise across the country, with 96 more persons testing positive for the virus today. The Centre said there was no cause for “panic”, even as five doctors became the latest victims.

Thirteen cases were reported in Delhi, including three doctors, one of whom is from Safdarjung hospital and a student of IIT which recorded a second case. A doctor in Pune and a pharmacist are in a critical condition and on a a ventilator. The fifth doctor affected is from Ahmedabad.

The government said it would soon allow private facilities to conduct screening for the H1N1 virus, provided they had the required accreditations.

This was announced by Health Secretary Naresh Dayal here today even as the government also unveiled measures to stem the spread of the disease. Dayal said the government would increase its stockpile of Tamiflu, the drug used for treatment of the disease, and decentralise its distribution to enable treatment of 10,000 patients at a time in six metros.

“We have enough supply of Tamiflu. The supply will now be decentralised at the district level, where we will have stockpiles to treat 1,000 persons at a time. Major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad will stock Tamiflu to treat 10,000 people simultaneously. We will also up the national stockpile by 10 million,” he added.

The official sought to allay fears about the spread of the disease, saying there was no need to panic.

“We have far more deaths due to other causes and have a higher infant mortality rate. So, there is no need to panic,” he said, adding, “this virus attacks people who are younger. Out of 615 cases, 129 patients are in the age group of 10 to 14 years”.

Of the 3,223 people tested so far in India, 711 have been found with Influenza A H1N1.

“Medicines will be supplied free from public health institutes. Eighteen labs have been identified and have facilities to handle all the load.’’he said.

But Dayal also urged people against resorting to “frivolous testing” saying that the tests are expensive with a negative test costing Rs 5,000 and a positive test costing Rs 10.000. He said that a simple precaution to be taken was to abstain frmo work or school if and when symptoms appear. This besides personal hygiene, and keeping away from a patient can check the spread of the virus, he said. Ninety-six laboratories confirmed cases have been reported today: Delhi (12), Gurgaon (6) Pune (37), Mumbai (16), Bangalore (10), Mangalore (3) Hyderabad (4), Chennai (4), Kolkata (3), and Calicut (1)