State recorded one H1N1 death every day in January

AHMEDABAD: With three deaths in Ahmedabad and one in Junagadh on Thursday, the total death toll due to swine flu in the state since January 1 this year now stands at 29. A total of 224 patients have tested positive at various hospitals in the state. On Thursday, 34 new patients tested positive.
Of the 34 patients who tested positive on Thursday, nine were reported from Vadodara, eight from Kutch, five from Ahmedabad and two each from Surat, Rajkot and Anand and one each from Junagadh, Dahod, Bharuch, Mehsana, Kheda and Narmada.Of the total 224 patients who had tested positive across the state till Thursday, 105 are still under treatment, said health officials.
Meanwhile, it has been learnt that a junior doctor of Sola Civil had tested positive to the viral disease on Tuesday. On Thursday, the doctor was missing from the hospital. All-India data available with health officials indicated that 1300 swine flu positive cases had been reported in the country in the period between January 1 and January 27 and a total of 114 patients had succumbed to the disease. Officials said that till January 27, maximum deaths were reported in Rajasthan, followed by Gujarat. Gujarat was sixth in the country in number of deaths in comparison to the number of cases registered.
The officials said that delay in detection was mainly to blame for the high mortality from the disease in Gujarat. The state has also organized online tele-conferencing for doctors in rural areas so that cases can be detected at an early stage and treatment started immediately.
Health commissioner JP Gupta said that the state government had vaccinated all medical and paramedical staff directly involved in the treatment of swine flu patients. He further said that the state government had also sent blood samples taken from patients to the National Institute of Virology, Pune, to ascertain whether the virus had mutated into a new strain or whether the old strain was again infecting people. Swine flu had assumed epidemic proportions in 2010 and 2013. It has again returned in a virulent form in 2015.
IMA secretary-general, KK Agarwal, said that people should avoid handshakes and stand at a distance of about three feet from a person with cold. He further said that the number of positive cases reported are small as the test is very expensive and not many people can afford it.