Health Secretary assures all assistance to states to tackle swine flu

Health Secretary BP Sharma on Tuesday assured state governments of all available assistance in order to tackle the menace of swine flu, which has been sweeping across the nation.

In a video conference with officials of Telangana, Kerala, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, Sharma reviewed the situation on the ground, in terms of adequacy of medicines, personal protective equipment and isolation wards.

Sharma also reviewed the training provided to doctors, rapid response teams and para-medical staff at various district and other government hospitals.

Stating that the Centre is closely monitoring the situation, Sharma assured the officials assistance in terms of medicine, testing kits, personal protective equipment and so on.

Swine flu is caused by H1N1 virus. H1N1 symptoms are similar to those produced by other influenza viruses - fever, cough, sore throat, body aches and respiratory problems.

Swine flu has claimed over 190 lives in the country in January, with Telangana reporting the highest number of cases of people afflicted with the H1N1 virus, followed by Delhi.