Swine flu hits Ahmedabad’s west hard

AHMEDABAD: The western part of the city including Sarkhej, Maktampura, Bodakdev and south-west zone of Jodhpur have been identified as areas where maximum cases of swine flu have been reported this year. According to senior Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) official Bhavin Solanki, among the corporation wards, Jodhpur, Chandkheda, Nikol and Vastral had the maximum number of H1N1 cases.So far nearly 400 cases have been reported from the city, of which at least eight cases have been fatal. Solanki said that of the eight deaths, two were reported in Vastral, one each in Vejalpur, Saraspur, Maninagar, Naroda, Odhav and Dariapur wards. Of these 400 cases, around 50% were reported from these areas, said officials, adding that majority of patients in Ahmedabad city were between 40 and 50 years.
Mayor Bijal Patel said that a meeting of the senior officials was held on Tuesday. She said government hospitals have adequate isolation beds and equal number of ventilators. She said there are 122 isolated beds in five government hospitals in the city including Asarwa Civil and Sola Civil Hospital. The mayor further said that there are 57 ventilators kept ready exclusively for swine flu patients. Patel further said that AMC health team survey found 450 suspected cases who were administered required treatment.
The newly inaugurated Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel hospital on the VS campus does not have any isolation beds for swine flu patients. Officials explained that as VS hospital has 22 isolation beds, authorities did not reserve any in SVP hospital.
The health team from the Centre, which is camping in the state, has reviewed the civic body’s claims and inspected the isolation beds and also carried out a surprise check of patients and nearby areas to verify AMC officials’ claims of proper follow up.
Of the 1,463 cases since January 1, 32 new cases were reported across the state on Tuesday.
Of these new cases, seven were reported by AMC, five by Vadodara Municipal Corporation. A total of 55 deaths have been reported in the state since January 1. While 125 patients are under treatment in Ahmedabad, 559 others are in various hospitals across the state.