CHITWAN, March 13: Of the 142 patients affected with the swine flu virus across the country, 27 are from Chitwan district alone.
While only 10 people were confirmed to have been infected with the virus till a couple of days ago, the number of swine flu patients has reached 27 as of Thursday. The District Public Health Office (PHO), Chitwan confirmed the cases after medical examination.
Vector Control Inspector Ram KC of PHO on Thursday said 27 of the 162 samples sent to Kathmandu tested positive for swine flu. “The virus has been detected in another 17 patients over the last two days. This is indeed worrying,” said KC. According to him, most of the patients infected with the swine flu virus are women.
Dr Bhojraj Adhikari informed that the number of suspected swine flu cases at the Bharatpur Hospital is increasing every day. “Everyone needs to take precaution,” he said. Especially children and the elderly are advised to be more careful as they are at a higher risk of contracting the virus due to their low immunity.
309 infected with swine flu in Chitwan: DPHO confirms
Chitwan DPHO has appealed to the people to avoid shaking hands with the people in crowded places and wear mask outdoors. Similarly, they asked people suffering from cold, cough, nausea or any other flu symptoms to undergo medical checkup immediately.
In the wake of increasing swine flu cases, there has been significant rise in the number of people visiting the Bharatpur Hospital for medical checkup. According to Dr Raju Basnet, the hospital is finding it difficult to manage the sudden increase in the inflow of patients. “We used to have around 100 patients daily. But now as many as 150 patients visit the hospital daily,” he said.
To manage the inflow of patients, District Public Health Office (DPO), Chitwan and Bharatpur Hospital have jointly set up a health desk.
According to Senior Superintendent Dr Bijaya Poudel, the desk has been set up to inform the public about the disease.
So far, the National Public Health Laboratory (NPHL) has confirmed swine flu in 142 persons across the country.
