ISLAMABAD – Seasonal flu cases are on the rise in the federal capital, with around 300 patients visiting the city’s two major hospitals daily. Seasonal flu or influenza is a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses and it spreads from person-to-person and can cause mild to severe illness.
Dr Sharif Astori, spokesman of the government-run Polyclinic Hospital said around 250 patients infected with seasonal flu, throat infection, chest infection and dry cough visited the polyclinic daily. “A majority of the patients are children and old people, who are more vulnerable to get caught by any seasonal outbreak,” he said.
He said the present flu outbreak in the capital city was a yearly eruption of the disease and it usually occurred between fall and early spring. He said, “Some groups were more likely to have complications from the seasonal flu, like people around 60 years of age or children younger than two years.”
Dr Waseem Khwaja, spokesman for Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) said that almost 60 to 70 patients of seasonal flu visited PIMS on a daily basis, but the hospital administration was fully prepared to handle the situation.
