Hyderabad: Ten more cases of swine flu confirmed in the city on Saturday, taking the total number of cases this year to 180. Twelve patients are undergoing treatment at Gandhi Hospital, six of them children. A senior doctor at the hospital said the patients were in the isolation ward and their condition was being monitored.
A study by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development has found that the virus forms a special outer coating in the cold weather which helps its transmission from person to person. Dr Sudarshan Reddy, senior paediatrician, said, “It has been found that cold weather with less humidity helps the virus.”
The virus gets transmitted from droplets when a patient sneezes or coughs. “Hence maintaining cough etiquette and ensuring proper hand-washing are very important to prevent the spread of swine flu,” he said.
