Hyderabad: A man died due to swine flu here, taking the number of deaths in Telangana due to the virus to 20 this season (since mid- December), a senior official said on Friday. The death was reported on Thursday, said L Narendranath, director of state-run Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences. This month a total of 11 deaths were reported due to swine flu, he said.
As many as 15 samples turned out to be positive for the swine flu from the 64 samples tested on Thursday. So far this month, 754 samples have been tested and 249 were confirmed to be positive.
As announced by the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, necessary medicines had reached the district and area hospitals and other measures were being put in place, Narendranath said.
People can obtain information about the disease on helpline number '104' attended by a team of doctors. The intensity of the virus was understood to have come down in the last few days, and the team of Central government officials which is here is also of the same view, he said.
The Central team was "completely satisfied" with the measures, though it had made certain suggestions. Among other things it suggested that health care workers can have a revision of the protection measures they need to take.
The testing facility at fever hospital would be operationalised. The samples are daily tested at the Institute of Preventive Medicine (IPM), he said. As the temperatures in the state were rising, it could lead to fall in the spread of infection, he said.
The Central team, which visited government hospitals here during its two-day visit, also met Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao in the evening.
A statement from Chief Minister's Office quoted Dr Ashok Kumar, the leader of Central team, as saying that the measures taken by the state government had helped reduce the impact of swine flu. The team also appreciated the fact that medicines were available in hospitals across the state.
The Chief Minister said that previous governments had not taken long term measures to prevent such diseases. Rao added that his government would address the situation and take preventive steps for seasonal outbreaks.
Rao also called the Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda and thanked him for sending the team and helping the state. He also urged the Union Minister that the Central team be sent again for inspecting the hospitals in the districts, the release added.
