Swine flu cases on the rise in Twin Cities as 180 patients test positive
Wednesday, February 14th, 2018 10:58:00 by fatimaarshad
Swine flu or influenza cases are at an all-time high in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad as already 180 patients have tested positive for the virus and two people have died because of it.
According to reports, the National Institute of Health (NIH) recently tested hundreds of samples for influenza, out of which 78 of the patients were found to belong from Islamabad while over 100 were from Rawalpindi.
The NIH had received over 7,000 samples of blood from across the country and out of these, most of the confirmed cases were from the twin cities. It has been reported that hospitals in the twin cities had sent a total of around 1,000 samples, of which over half were sent by health centers in Islamabad. Out of a sample of 550, the virus was confirmed in 78 samples.
Health centers in Rawalpindi had sent in 600 blood samples, of which 100 had tested positive for the dangerous virus.
It is not clear where the virus originated but it is now spreading rapidly due to its contagious nature.
Dr Naseem Akhtar, an assistant professor on infectious diseases at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), told reporters that as many as 17 patients, who had tested positive for influenza, were currently under treatment at the hospital. Of these, one patient was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), another in the surgical ICU while the remaining 15 had been kept in an isolation ward.
Meanwhile, influenza patients are also facing problems getting the requisite medicines for their treatment.
Pims had submitted an application to the World Health Organization (WHO) upon which the global health body provided the tertiary hospital with 200 Star-flu capsules — sufficient for 40 patients.
Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=56046
Posted by fatimaarshad
on Feb 14 2018. Filed under Latest News, Pakistan.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
