Mohali man dies of swine flu at PGI

Tribune News Service

Banur, February 4

A 49-year-old resident of Sector 70 in Mohali died today at the PGI due to swine flu. He was admitted to the PGI on February 1 in a critical condition. This is the third swine flu death reported from the tricity since last month.

On February 1, a 27-year-old woman, a resident of Banur, had died of swine flu. She was referred to the PGI from Gian Sagar Medical College in Banur.

Earlier, on January 19, a 35-year-old native of Khuda Lahora had died of swine flu at the PGI. Besides these three deaths, five more patients were affected with the virus but they were stabilised with tamiflu dose.

Symptoms

Swine flu is an infection caused due to transmission of the deadly H1N1 virus. Prolonged flu, blood in sputum and fever are the common symptoms of the disease and can prove fatal if remained undiagnosed for long.

The treatment

Washing your hands often is an effective way of preventing the infection. The disease is curable. Tamiflu, an oral medicine, cures swine flu. The medicine is available at all three government hospitals — the PGI, GMSH-16 and GMCH-32 — free of cost. Private clinics and hospitals can get the medicine from the UT Health Department.

Quarantining is a process in which a patient is restricted either to his or her residence or an isolated ward in a hospital for a period of at least seven days and administered tamiflu regularly.