One more dies of swine flu

Manav Mander

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, January 25

One more patient died of swine flu at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) today. With the death of the patient (50), who belonged to Ferozepur, the swine flu toll at at the city hospitals has gone up to eight.

A perusal of this year’s data reveals the number of women dying of swine flu is more than the previous year. Of eight patients who lost their lives to swine flu this year, five were women. Two of them died after delivery.

Dr Ramesh, District Epidemiologist, said the number of women patients dying of swine flu this year was slightly more but that was just a coincidence. “Two of them belonged to high-risk categories as they were pregnant. The strain of virus that has been spreading for the past couple of years is the same, so there is nothing like that women are more vulnerable to the flu,” he said.

Dr Ramesh advocated people belonging to the high-risk categories should go for swine flu vaccine, especially pregnant women and those suffering from chronic diseases.

Symptoms

Fever (but not always), cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, watery, red eyes, body aches, headache, fatigue, diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting. The H1N1 symptoms develop about one or three days after you’re exposed to the virus.

Prevention

• Stay home if you’re sick. If you have swine flu (H1N1 flu), you can pass it on to others. Stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone.
• Wash your hands thoroughly and frequently. Use soap and water, or if they’re unavailable, use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser.
• Contain your coughs and sneezes. Cover your mouth and nose when you sneeze or cough. To avoid contaminating your hands, cough or sneeze into a tissue or the inner crook of your elbow.
• Avoid contact. Stay away from crowds if possible. And if you’re at high risk of complications from the flu, for example you’re younger than five or you’re 65 or older, you’re pregnant, or you have a chronic medical condition such as asthma, consider avoiding swine barns at seasonal fairs and elsewhere.
• If a member of your household has swine flu, designate only one household member to attend to him.

Swine flu

Influenza viruses affect cells lining your nose, throat and lungs. These enter body when you inhale contaminated droplets or transfer live virus from a surface to your eyes, nose or mouth. One can’t catch swine flu by eating pork.