New Delhi: Over 70 people have now died in India because of swine flu and as the flu continues to spread, doctors are putting in 14 hours a day screening dozens of patients in each shift.
Sunil Sharma, a senior resident doctor at Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya Hospital in New Delhi, has been working at the swine flu ward tirelessly. He could get a break only in mid-July when he himself fell ill.
''I got admitted here since I got flu, but the test came out negative,'' Sharma said.
There are six doctors present in any given shift, but when the Pune deaths fuelled panic, they found themselves stretched to the limit.
''The highest we saw was 180 patients,'' said Vinod Kumar, medical superintendent at Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya Hospital.
The nodal officer at the said hospital tells NDTV that it has been difficult to assemble teams for H1N1 wards, as many doctors were afraid and backed out.
However, those who agreed have to be shuffled every six weeks because that's how long they can be on preventive medication.
''Not all medical personnel want to work here. We have to counsel them since they have fears. Even our families have fears that we may be carrying the infection back home with us,'' said Dr Anshu Goel, nodal officer at the hospital.
It is quite a misery that there are only a handful of doctors across the country who are selflessly battling to save people from the disease.