Kheri dist on alert after resident tests + for swine flu

Shahjahanpur: First case of swine flu was detected in Lakhimpur Kheri district after the test report of a patient, who was referred to Lucknow, confirmed the presence of swine flu virus. The district is on high alert.
A 31-year-old man, who was recently deported from Dubai, was diagonozed with swine flu at King George’s Medical University (KGMU) hospital in Lucknow.The man had returned home in Lakhimpur city after landing in Lucknow, where he checked into a private hospital. Then, he came to Lakhimpur city before going to Lucknow again. During this period, he visited three hospitals and came in contact with several people. Now, all are at risk, said health department authorites.
After his condition was confirmed by KGMU, health department authorities sent a team of doctors to the colony where his residence is located, examining neighbours for symptoms of swine flu.
The patient and his entire family were in Lucknow, where they have been given a shots of swine flu vaccine, confirmed chief medical officer (CMO) Manoj Agarwal. A relative who came in contact with the patient was also administered Tamiflu, an antiviral medication used for treatinbg and preventing influenza, by the health department personnel to contain the infection.
The virus spreads through a patient’s cough or sneeze and spray tiny drops of the virus into the air. If a healthy person comes in contact with these drops or touches something an infected person has recently touched, they can catch H1N1 swine flu.
Mohammed Ateek, a resident of Nayi Basti colony of Lakhimpur city, was deported from Dubai on September 4 after he was taken ill. After landing in Lucknow, he checked into a private hospital there. But his condition continued to deteriorate. His family brought him to Lakhimpur on September 7 and tried get him treated at a local hospital.
His family again shifted him to Lucknow, on September 8, and admitted him at KGMU on the advice of a local doctor. There, he tested positive for swine flu.
Speaking with TOI, CMO Manoj Agarwal said, “Ateek was deported from Dubai and had imported this disease to India. Clearly negligence was shown by the medical staff at the airport. Swine flu patients should be kept in quarantine but he was allowed to come in contact of several people. Besides, he visited more than three hospitals. As a precautionary measure, we have distributed Tamiflu to neighbours and relatives of Ateek. He is currently admitted in Lucknow in a quarantine ward. We are in touch with the doctors there. This information has been shared with the superintendents of CHC across the district to report if they detect any suspected case of swine flu.