Swine flu suspected in Sunsari flood victims

[tetano]

Health authorities suspect some people, who were displaced due to floods in Sunsari, have contracted swine flu.

District Public Health Office (DPHO), Sunsari has corresponded with higher up offices for verification and support after they found symptoms of swine flu in about 126 flood victims.

A medical team of the district had conducted a health check-up on 102 victims living on the banks of Sunsari River in Jhokraha on Monday and 24 persons in the district hospital on Sunday.

DPHO chief Dayashankar Lal Karna said, most of the victims were suffering from fever, cold, headache, cough and respiratory problems.

Blood samples of the suspected patients have been sent for further tests and swine flu test kits from the regional contact office of the WHO in Biratnagar have been taken to the the district.

DPHO, Sunsari has also advised the victims and other locals to take special precaution to check the flu from spreading. nepalnews.com

http://www.nepalnews.com/main/index.php/news-archive/2-political/8245-swine-flu-suspected-in-sunsari-flood-victims.html

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Swine flu suspected in Sunsari flood victims

Swine flu: Authorities unmoved
Added At: 2010-08-10 11:38 PM
Last Updated At: 2010-08-11 11:38 PM
The Himalayan Times
Himalayan News Service


ITAHARI: Local authorities here have failed to implement precautionary measures in the swine flu suspected areas of Sunsari.

The suspected swine flu, if confirmed, is likely to take a form of an epidemic in the district. The District Public Health Office has been waiting for confirmation about the disease instead of taking initiatives to prevent the spread of the disease.

While DPHO head Dr Dayashankarlal Karna kept himself busy working at the District Hospital and other private clinics today, a team of health officials from DPHO was sent to the Khikripatti area in Inaruwa-6 for minor health check-ups and distributing the medicine for common cold and fever.

But, according to locals, the team has not informed them as to what precautionary measures they should take to prevent the disease. Hundreds of families on the banks the Surnsari River in Jhokraha have also not been told about precautionary measures.

Meanwhile, a three-member team of health officials led by Ram Kumar Mahato of the Eastern Regional Health Directorate, Dhankuta, visited Khikripatti and Jhokraha in the district and collected blood samples for laboratory test.

?Five samples have been sent to Kathmandu today,? Mahato informed.

Referring a WHO data, he said that basic precautionary measures were enough for the swine flu as only 18,000 out of 800,000 patients around the globe had died of the disease.

DPHO also did not carry out the Rapid Diagnosis Test on the samples today though it had said it would announce the results on Tuesday.

According to sources, DPHO instead is waiting for the result of the lab tests conducted in Kathmandu.

Yesterday, Dr Karna had informed that the symptoms of the swine flu were seen in the patients from the flood victim families. The patients have been suffering from runny nose, fever, common cold, headache, cough and respiratory problems.

http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Swine+flu%3A+Authorities+unmoved&NewsID=253150