Gert van der Hoek
In Memoriam - Editor, Senior Moderator
Kolkata gripped by influenza
Statesman News Service
KOLKATA, July 5: The interminable rains for many have brought a welcome respite from their busy work schedule but physicians are hard-pressed with the city shivering in the grip of influenza.
State health department officials said that all the state-run hospitals in the city were flooded with fever patients. They also said that perhaps one person out of every five Kolkatans were suffering from fever now. Though primarily all the fever cases appear to be common influenza, the health department is keeping a close watch on the situation to avoid any health disaster. In the past two years, dengue claimed a number of lives in the city.
?Though primarily all fever cases appear to be those of common influenza, we would not like to allow spread of deadly viral diseases like dengue,? said an official.
Experts from city-based virus unit of Indian Council of Medical Research said the influenza spread through air and affects the upper respiratory tract. As a result, if any affected person attends office or school, others present in the area could be affected. And if one gets drenched in rain, body becomes sensitive to attract the virus.
The experts also pointed out that the civic and the health department authorities should be on the alert immediately after the rain stops. After the rain stops abruptly, deadly viruses like dengue can spread rapidly in stagnant water. They also advised to consult doctor in any kind of fever to avoid further trouble.
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=23&theme=&usrsess=1&id=161845
Statesman News Service
KOLKATA, July 5: The interminable rains for many have brought a welcome respite from their busy work schedule but physicians are hard-pressed with the city shivering in the grip of influenza.
State health department officials said that all the state-run hospitals in the city were flooded with fever patients. They also said that perhaps one person out of every five Kolkatans were suffering from fever now. Though primarily all the fever cases appear to be common influenza, the health department is keeping a close watch on the situation to avoid any health disaster. In the past two years, dengue claimed a number of lives in the city.
?Though primarily all fever cases appear to be those of common influenza, we would not like to allow spread of deadly viral diseases like dengue,? said an official.
Experts from city-based virus unit of Indian Council of Medical Research said the influenza spread through air and affects the upper respiratory tract. As a result, if any affected person attends office or school, others present in the area could be affected. And if one gets drenched in rain, body becomes sensitive to attract the virus.
The experts also pointed out that the civic and the health department authorities should be on the alert immediately after the rain stops. After the rain stops abruptly, deadly viruses like dengue can spread rapidly in stagnant water. They also advised to consult doctor in any kind of fever to avoid further trouble.
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=23&theme=&usrsess=1&id=161845