|
WHO Guidelines on H1N1
To protect yourself...
- Avoid close contact with people who appear unwell and who have fever and cough.
- Wash your hands with soap and water frequently and thoroughly.
- Practice good health habits including adequate sleep, eating nutritious food, and keeping physically active.
If there is an ill person at home...
- Try to provide the ill person a separate section in house and cover mouth and nose when caring for the ill person.
- Wash your hands with soap and water thoroughly after each
contact with the ill person.
- Keep the environment clean with readily available household
cleaning agents.
|
Mumbai, August 4
A day after a teenaged girl in Pune died of swine flu, the Maharashtra government declared the districts of Pune and Satara epidemic-hit. "The Maharashtra government has invoked the Epidemic Diseases Act in the two districts," Health Minister Rajendra Shingane told reporters here.
According to provisions of the Act, the local authorities may forcibly hospitalize people showing symptoms of the H1N1 virus, the minister said. Pune has reported 104 cases of swine flu while neighboring Satara has 23 cases. One of the victims in Pune, Rida Sheikh, 14, died on Monday.
Swine flu cases have been reported from Mumbai with 20 cases as well as Thane and Nasik with two and a single case, respectively, Shingane said. In all 150 cases have been reported in Maharashtra, according to the minister.
Meanwhile officials are blaming the city’s Jehangir Hospital and the Ruby Hall testing centre for the death of the teenaged girl. The Maharashtra government today issued ‘show cause’ notices to both the hospital and the testing center, asking them to explain why action should not be taken for the Pune schoolgirl’s death.
Shingane said the hospital was lax in informing government authorities of the swine flu case. "The girl could have been saved if the authorities had been informed in time," he said. The hospital’s officials have also been accused of keeping silent on the issue for 11 days, and the testing centre has been blamed for not conducting the tests properly.
Meanwhile, officials here said the hospital had ignored government directives and failed to notify the authorities on the swine flu patient being admitted to the hospital. According to additional health secretary Sharvari Gokhale, the hospital did not inform health officials till the patient tested positive for the H1NI1 virus.
Meanwhile, the girl’s family has threatened to sue both the hospital and the testing centre for criminal negligence. "We want civil and criminal action taken against the hospital. The family will also sue the hospital for damages and get a huge sum of money. We’re not interested in the money...it’ll be given to charity," Asif Lampwala, the family's lawyer, told reporters.
According to Ayesha, the victim's aunt, Rida had consulted a GP on July 21 after she complained of having a sore throat, headache and a runny nose. She returned to school two days later when her condition improved. But on July 25 she again contracted fever after which she was admitted to Jehangir Hospital on July 27.
Two days later Rida was shifted to the hospital’s ICU and put on the ventilator. On July 31, her throat swabs that were sent to the National Institute of Virology were found to be positive for swine flu. By then she was already on Tamiflu for a day. However her condition deteriorated and she died yesterday.
Rida's father, Sajid Shaikh, accused the hospital of not sending her samples to the NIV on time. "If they had sent the samples earlier my daughter would have been here today," he said.
