H1N1 claims 14 lives in Himachal Pradesh, 95 in grip

SHIMLA: With 95 people falling ill and 14 dying due to swine flu in Himachal Pradesh, chief minister Jai Ram Thakur presided over a meeting in Shimla to ensure effective steps to monitor and control the fatal virus on Saturday.
He directed the officials of health department to sensitise people about the symptoms, causes and treatment of swine flu, so that timely treatment could be provided to patients.He said the virus could be controlled by providing preventive medication to the family of those infected by swine flu.
Of the 14 deaths, five have been reported from Kangra district, three from Mandi district, two each from Una and Hamirpur, one each from Shimla and Bilaspur.
In all, 294 samples have been tested for the virus.
Of the 95 positive cases, 32 have been reported from Kangra district, 28 from Shimla district, 11 from Bilaspur district, eight from Mandi district, five from Chamba district, four from Hamirpur district, three from Solan district, two from Una district, and one from Kullu district.
Thakur said a complete analysis of positive cases should be carried out, so that preventive measures could be taken to check the spread of the virus. He said special medical teams must be deployed in areas where maximum numbers of cases had been reported. He said a 12-bedded isolation ward had been set up at Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital (IGMCH), Shimla, and a four-bedded intensive care unit (ICU) hadexisting infrastructure.
Thakur said despite a decline in incidents of swine flu, the state government had prepared itself with an advanced stock of 8,000 capsules in Shimla. He added that an adequate stock of medicines must be ensured so that immediate treatment could be provided to patients. He said special focus had to be laid on areas from where maximum cases of H1N1 infection had been reported.