Chennai:
The suspected death of a 70-year-old farmer in Tamil Nadu's Tirupur region due to swine flu this morning has triggered fears of the outbreak of the dreaded H1N1 virus. In the last couple of days, four cases of children testing positive from the outpatient ward of a government hospital, King Institute in Chennai, have been reported. This is not enough to create alarm or panic but is a cause for concern, nevertheless.
The revelation was almost a coincidence and emanated from a study by Chennai's King Institute on seasonal influenza. Health experts feel that the virus could have been transmitted by patients travelling from Maharashtra or Rajasthan.
However, what is intriguing is that the addresses mentioned in the outpatient register turned out to be false. The Chennai Corporation has been forced to play detective as officials have approached a private telecom company to get hold of an address for a mobile number left behind at the hospital.
The civic and health officials are taking no chances. They claim to be stocking up on throat swab kits, Tamiflu tablets and making arrangements at the Communicable Disease Hospital in Tondiarpet, just in case patients need to be quarantined.
The Tamil Nadu health department officials insist that "there is no outbreak". They have appealed to the media to not blow isolated and negligible cases out of proportion, as it may lead to indiscriminate popping of Oseltamivir tablets among patients with ordinary symptoms of fever resulting in resistance to the drug. However, the catch is that these 'ordinary symptoms' mimic the dreaded virus. The saving grace is that this is peak summer; and experts say that the chance of the infection spreading is remote. Schools will also soon close for their annual vacation and hopefully, it's only the mercury that will rise.