H1N1 death in city: Health officials told to be equipped

12 suspected cases reported from Ramabai Nagar, Naidu Nagar, etc

In the wake of a woman’s death due to H1N1 fever in Mysuru, Revenue and District in-charge Minister V Srinivas Prasad on Monday directed the district health officials to be well equipped to deal with such cases.

Presiding over the Karnataka Development Programmes (KDP) progress review meeting held at Zilla Panchayat hall here, the minister instructed the District Health and Family Welfare Officer Dr H T Puttaswamy to be ready with the available drugs, besides stepping up awareness against the dreaded fever.

Puttaswamy explained that cases with H1N1 symptoms have been reported from Naidu Nagar and Ramabai Nagar in the city, Gavadagere in Hunsur, Kolagala in H D Kote, and also in K R Nagar taluk in the district.

Till now, a total of 12 cases have been reported in Mysuru district, with five from outside the district, including from Tamil Nadu, being treated in the city. Among them, three suspected cases were reported, including that of a woman who died in the city.

The district health officer said that awareness programmes were underway with pamphlets and posters on do’s and don’ts being distributed, the DHO said.

Medical Superintendent of K R Hospital Dr B G Sagar said that five bed wards have been reserved to treat such cases at K R Hospital and PKTB Sanatorium, respectively. The ward at K R Hospital has been attached to cardiac unit with ventilator facility, while at the sanatorium, it is attached to pulmonary facility, and has been equipped with a ventilator. “There is adequate stock of Tamiflu tabs in the district. In the event of suspected cases, throat swab is collected and sent to the laboratory in Bengaluru for further tests,” he said.

He also said that the viral lab in Bengaluru had recently said that there was no necessity to collect throat swabs in all the cases.

Monetary aid
Earlier, K R Nagar MLA Sa Ra Mahesh exhorted the minister to explore the possibilities of providing financial assistance to the people suffering from H1N1, as the private hospitals were fleecing them. Quoting the district health officer, the MLA said there was no provision in the government for financial aid in such cases. H D Kote MLA Chikkamadu who made a similar request sought at least of Rs five lakh as compensation to the dependents of the deceased.

District Surveillance Officer Dr D G Nagaraj explained that the government was providing Rs 2,000 to conduct the lab tests in the suspected cases, right from drawing the swab samples to transporting the same to the laboratories.