Assam reports first case of H1N1 virus
POSTED August 17, 2009 - 14:40 | POSTED BY Neharika Sabharwal
Last edited by Priya Markanda on August 17, 2009 - 15:23
Assam registered its first case of swine flu, while four more people tested positive in Meghalaya taking the total number of H1N1 cases in the region to seven.
Details of the first swine flu case in Assam
According to health officials, the victim is a 22-year-old student Dhiraj Yadav, studying law in Pune, who flew into Guwahati Thursday, where he had come to visit his sister.
On the very same day he was admitted to the Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Hospital (MMCH) with flu-like symptoms and his throat swaps were sent for testing at the Lahowal-based laboratory in Dirbugarh district.
The reports received Saturday revealed Yadav to be swine flu positive. He has been isolated and his condition is closely monitored.
The deputy superintendent of MMCH, Ashok Barkotoky stated that Yadav is stable and should be up and about within a few days.
“The patient has neither temperature nor any other complaint now. He looks fine and is spending time by watching TV at the isolation ward of the MMCH,” he added.
As a precautionary measure, the Health Department conducted tests and quarantined all the relatives who were in touch with Yadav before hospitalization.
Barkotoky said, “We have contacted those passengers who were three rows ahead and three rows behind Yadav on the flight.”
Four new cases in Meghalaya
Four more cases of H1N1 virus were confirmed yesterday after a football player Salwit Tongper tested positive August 11 on his return from an international meet.
These comprise, a girl studying in Pune who returned to Shillong on closure of educational institutions there.
The remaining cases include an employee at the Shillong Civil Hospital who was attending Tongper, and his student friend. Besides the three, there is an inmate of the Sports Authority of India hostel in Polo, Shillong who tested positive for the influenza.
Health Minister allays fears
Dispelling the fear and panic engulfing the people over the recent deaths caused by the virus, the Assam Health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stated, "There is no cause of worry over swine flu as the state is well equipped to tide over any such crisis."
The health minister assured the people that the state has 100 trained doctors, an adequate stock of Tamiflu tablets besides sufficient M-95 masks to combat any predicament.
In addition, isolation wards are being geared up in private hospitals, International Hospital, Down Town Hospital, Guwahati Neurological Research Centre and the N F railway hospital.
