Delhi health dept panel examining 'swine flu' deaths reported by hospitals: Official

A panel of the city's health department is examining the swine flu death cases reported by various hospitals, to ascertain if H1N1 infection was the cause of fatalities, a senior official said.

Meanwhile, 43 fresh cases have been reported in the national capital, taking the total number of cases to 660 for the month of January, he said.

While 13 deaths due to swine flu have been reported at two Centre-run hospitals here this year, but the Delhi health department has not made public any fatality due to it yet.

"A committee under the health department is examining the cases, if the deaths were caused by swine flu. The report will come out by Monday or Tuesday, so we will get a clear picture," the official told PTI.

According to senior officials at Safdarjung Hospital, three deaths due to swine flu have been recorded this season while RML Hospital has reported 10 fatalities.

Nine of the 10 people who died at RML Hospital were from Delhi, and the other one from outside the city, officials said.

After holding a state-level review meeting on in?uenza A (H1N1), the Delhi government had recently said that all government hospitals in the city are equipped with necessary logistics required for the management of the disease and drug Oseltamivir along with personal protective equipment (PPE kits) and N95 masks are also available.

Recent guidelines from the Union Health Ministry on case diagnosis, management, vaccination, isolation criteria, risk categorisation and preventive measures have been circulated among all hospitals and health facilities.

"All hospitals have been asked to keep ventilators ready, and also told to disseminate information on the prevention of the disease," the Delhi health department official said.

Health advisories, in English and Hindi, on seasonal In?uenza A H1N1 (swine flu) have been prepared and issued for general public in leading newspapers.

Patients with co-morbid condition like low immunity, on immune-suppressant, blood cancer, renal transplant, diabetes, heart disease are at high risk of getting infected with swine flu.

For any query on swine flu, people can seek assistance on the 24X7 helpline number at DGHS (HQ): 011-22300012, 22307145.