State plans expert centre for swine flu at Sassoon Hospital
Indian Express: With a steady rise in the number of swine flu deaths in the Pune district, the state has now decided to train doctors in the management of swine flu patients on ventilator support at the Sassoon general hospital. The National Institute of Virology (NIV) has been urged to conduct a survey on the prevalence of the disease.
Dr R R Pardeshi, health chief at PMC, said the civic body is undertaking an awareness campaign on the need for hygiene and use of disinfectants. District Collector Chandrakant Dalvi said there was no reason to panic as NIV has been asked to conduct a survey on the prevalence of the disease. “There is no mutation of the virus,” said Dr M S Chadda, deputy director of NIV while Dr S B Nadoni, senior regional director of health, family welfare department said the state had decided to make Sassoon general hospital an expert centre.
Following the death of 14-year-old Reeda Shaikh from swine flu on August 9, 2010, the Pune district has witnessed 285 deaths of which 104 occured within the municipal corporation limits of the city. Health officials have seen a rise in the number of patients this monsoon and a total of 74 deaths have been registered in April this year.
Dr Arun Jamkar, Dean of Sassoon General Hospital, said, “We are appealing to doctors to start Tamiflu treatment within 48 hours of the ocurence of symptoms,” Jamkar said.
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