- Hospitals lack equipment for tests as seven cases reported from City alone
After diphtheria claimed more than 40 lives, Punjab is hit by another viral disease, swine flu, as 16 deaths have so far been reported from this epidemic across the province.
In all, 46 swine flu cases have been reported from public sector hospitals of Punjab. Of these cases, seven have surfaced in Lahore where leading public hospitals do not even have the equipment for tests.
As normally the whole process – from sending blood samples of suspected patients to the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad for tests to receiving report(s) – takes two to three days, the condition of patients aggravates during this wait time.
Nevertheless, a Health Department official told Pakistan Today that after a PCR machine is installed at Lahore’s Mayo Hospital in the coming days there would be no need to send the samples for reports to Islamabad.
The Health Department has issued a circulation saying that the outbreak would be called as ‘Influenza AH1N1’ as per the instructions of the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Meanwhile, a meeting held under the chair of Chief Minister’s Health Adviser Khawaja Salman Rafique at King Edward Medical University (KEMU) discussed the possibilities of avoiding the epidemic.
The meeting was attended by the vice chancellor of KEMU Prof Dr Faisal Masood, Prof Akmal Laiq, Prof Ahsan Waheed, representative of UNICEF Dr Tahir Manzoor and Director General Health Dr Amjad Shehzad. The participants of the meeting emphasised on the precautionary measures to avoid the outbreak of the viral disease.
Dr Salman Kazmi of Mayo Hospital, who has compiled a book on different viruses, told Pakistan Today that the influenza H1N1 requires complete care and precaution. He said that it is a common practice that most of the people take medicine for flu from a quack or medical store without consulting a qualified doctor.
“I my book I have discussed 26 viruses including diphtheria, tetanus and swine flu in detail and the measures to avoid them. This book would be made part of our school curriculum after a nod from the Health and Education departments to impart the basic knowledge about these diseases to students”, he said.
According to Salman, the basic symptoms of swine flu are cough, flu and fever. He said that infant and the people facing lung and respiratory problems are more vulnerable to this disease because they have a weak immunisation system.
Akhlaq Khan, the Health Department spokesperson, said that the influenza AH1N1 has affected more than 150 countries. According to him, more deaths have taken place from this virus in other provinces as compared to Punjab.
“Isolation units have been created in the hospitals for this viral disease and the doctors working there are provided with masks and other paraphernalia for their protection,” he said. He further said that people must use masks when they go to public places as a precautionary measure.