Over 20 cases of swine flu (H1N1) have been reported in the City, but the BBMP has been claiming that the situation is under control with all the precautionary measures in place, and has told the citizens not to panic. Dr Geetha Shashikumar, chairperson, BBMP standing committee on health, told the media on Monday that five deaths and 82 positive cases of swine flu have been reported in the City since January. Of them, seven were from different parts of the state, while four were from other states.
Of the five deaths, two were from the City, while one each was from Kolar, KGF and Chikballapur. The latest case was reported from a private hospital in the city on Sunday. The deceased was from Kolar. On April 2, Ramachari (44) from KGF died at Colombia Asia Hospital. But the BBMP zeroed in on the reason behind his death as H1N1 only five days later.
BBMP health officials have been told to conduct surveys of areas where H1N1 is being reported. Those suffering flu-like symptoms for more than two days in areas where H1N1 is prevalent have been asked to stay indoors and get a thorough medical check-up done. The common symptoms are high fever, difficulty in breathing, cold and sore throat, cough with yellow sputum, lethargy, severe diarrhoea and vomiting, Dr Geetha said.
Citizens can approach any BBMP maternity and referral hospitals to get the medicines, she said. Free testing facilities have been set up at Nimhans, while paid service centres are at Manipal and Narayana Nethralaya. The H1N1 is a mutated strain of the virus detected in 2009-10. Since the swine flu is an air-borne disease, the public are being told about avoiding crowded places and not to take flu-like symptoms lightly, she added.