Chennai: With at least five persons, including four from a family in Palayamkottai town in Tirunelveli district, have been infected with swine flu. The State health machinery is getting geared up to tackle any emergency.
While admitting the prevalence of swine flu in the State, Health Minister Dr C. Vijaya Baskar said the government has enhanced measures to contain the spread of this influenza.
“We have enough stock of medicine to combat swine flu in the State. There is a stock of 12 lakh tablets with the health department meant for patients’ use. And all the government hospitals are well equipped to treat the patients,” Dr Vijaya Baskar informed on Sunday and called upon the people not to panic.
“We have instructed all the regional joint directors and district deputy directors of the health and family welfare department to monitor the cases. At present, there are only four cases admitted in the Tirunelveli government medical college hospital,” he told reporters in Pudukottai.
Of the four who have been admitted, two are doctors: 45-year-old Kalyankumar, doctor at the Tirunelveli government medical college hospital and his wife Dr Pon Kokila. The other two are said to be their relatives.
Dr Vijaya Baskar claimed that there was no outbreak of the dreaded disease in Tamil Nadu and that it had come from other states.
Reports indicated that a farmer Ravichandran of Karur near Tiruchy in the state was admitted to hospital with symptoms of H1N1. Similar cases were said to have been reported in Chennai, Coimbatore, Tirupur and Vellore.
According to an official from the health department, people suffering from a mild fever with throat pain should consult a doctor immediately. Those having the symptoms of fever, diarrhoea and jaundice should take adequate precautions, he advised.
