26 swine flu deaths in Punjab; committee to review situation

Twenty-six people have died of swine flu in Punjab in recent days, the state's health minister said on Monday.

Health Minister Surjit Jayani said that till date, 183 suspected cases of H1N1 have been reported, out of which 57 cases were found positive for H1N1.

The Punjab government on Monday also announced the constitution of a state-level advisory committee under the chairmanship of D. Behera of the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) to review the situation of H1N1 in the state and give recommendations on prevention and control of H1N1.

"Twenty-six people have died till date. Sufficient quantities of medicines have been procured and distributed to the districts. About one lakh Oseltamivir 75 mg (Tamiflu) capsules, 2,000 Oseltamivir 30 mg (Tamiflu) capsules, 2,000 Oseltamivir syrup (bottles) have been made available in all the government hospitals," Jayani said.

He said medicines have been made available in all government medical colleges, district hospitals and other health centres.

"Isolation wards have been established at each government hospital for providing care to the patients. Besides this, doctors of three government medical colleges have been trained in ventilator management at New Delhi for management of serious cases," the minister said.

"It has been noticed that cases found to be H1N1 positive were being treated by private doctors for some time and were referred to higher centres only when the condition deteriorated," Jayani pointed out.

The minister said the situation was under control.