Unseasonal swine flu deaths ominous: Doctors

KOLKATA: The H1N1scenario in the state may not be as scary as that of Rajasthan, but with five deaths reported since January this year — four from a single hospital — and over 25 patients being treated for swine flu in different hospitals across the city at present, the situation in Kolkata looks grim as well. The numbers are unusualy high for this time of the year, say experts.
Snehalata Das (85), who died of the virus on Tuesday, was a resident of SBI Housing Complex on Baikuntha Ghosh Road.“My mother was admitted to CMRI on January 28 with breathing trouble. We got her discharged from CMRI on February 6, but her condition deteriorated again. She was admitted to Salt Lake AMRI Hospitals on the same day. A test was done there, which confirmed H1N1,” said Snehalata’s daughter Chandana Das.

The local civic authorities contacted the family after the death and gave them medicines that are used for treating swine flu. In a knee-jerk reaction, the civic body also went about sprinkling bleaching powder inside the housing complex where the H1N1 victim lived. “I have heard that another person in this locality has also contacted swine flu,” Das said.
Doctors working in intensive care units in a number of hospitals in the city said there had been a sudden spurt in swine flu cases over the last one month, which is quite unusual for this time of the year. Apart from common people, pulmonologists and doctors working in intensive care units are catching the virus due to their frequent exposure to swine flu patients.
According to health experts, no updated H1N1vaccine has come to the market since 2017. “The strains of such viruses change and it is difficult to check an outbreak without effective vaccines,” said a medical expert.
Sanjukta Dutta, head of the emergency medicine department at Fortis Hospital Kolkata, said once a patient is diagnosed with H1N1, he or she should be isolated to prevent a spread.
“Once a patient catches the disease, the condition rapidly deteriorates and precautionary measures like wearing masks, keeping a distance of 3ft-5ft should be taken immediately to prevent its spread. Those with flu-like symptoms should cover their mouths and noses with a cloth when coughing or sneezing,” she said.
Experts said that since this was not the swine flu season, the outbreak has come as a surprise. “In 2016, we had several deaths. H1N1 is an air-borne infection which spreads fast and easily. In a crowded city like Kolkata, number of cases could multiply in a matter of days,” warned AMRI Hospitals consultant Debashish Saha.
He added that the virus often spreads from crowded places like schools, colleges, public transport and shopping malls. “Children should be made to wear masks to schools. You can’t avoid every public place, so it’s necessary to be cautious,” said Saha.
“We are conducting regular surveys and visiting the places from where H1N1 cases are being reported. We are distributing medicines and conducting awareness campaigns on the dos and don’ts to prevent a spread,” said Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation MMiC (Health) Pranay Roy.