Govt hospitals fully equipped to deal with swine flue, says Nadda

A day after the death of a 51-year-old woman due to swine flu in Ghaziabad, health minister J P Nadda on Saturday said there was no need to push the panic button as the government hospitals were fully equipped to deal with the situation.

At the same time he cautioned people against delaying treatment when flu symptoms persisted, leading to pneumonia and chest infection, which could turn fatal.
The minister added that the health department and government hospitals were capable of treating this influenza. He added there was no need to panic and people needed to visit the nearest hospital.

A 51-year-old victim from Ghaziabad became the first H1NI casualty in the capital this year after she succumbed to the flu at a private hospital in Delhi. According to the Directorate of Health Services, six cases of swine flu had been reported in the capital and its neighbouring region this month.

According to health experts, it was during winter that viruses proliferated most and people needed to look out for symptoms like persistent cough, fever and chest infection among others.

Meanwhile, Dr RK Singal, consultant, internal medicine at BLK super specialty hospital, said, it was advisable to take extreme precaution as swine flu felt like regular flu at times because of which one might not understand the severity of it.

Hospitals have been asked to take appropriate measures to treat swine flu cases.

According to NDTV, the deceased was identified as Sheel Goel, a resident of East Model Town in Ghaziabad. She was admitted to the ICU of Ganga Ram Hospital in a serious condition on 21 December.

She was referred to Sir Ganga Ram on 21 December, with high blood pressure and hypertension. She had been brought from Columbia Hospital in Gaziabad. The health department of Delhi had also sent medicines and important drugs to various government hospitals.

"The government hospitals are capable of treating the influenza,'' said union health minister JP Nadda

We are fully prepared to deal with any case of H1N1 influenza, Dr Sidharth Ramji, medical superintendent, Lok Nayak hospital said. He added the health department had also sent few more medicines and drugs on Friday night.