One more swine flu case in city

Hyderabad, Aug 12 :

  One more fresh case of swine flu was reported in the city on Wednesday taking the total figure to 74.

On Wednesday, a 7-year-old boy who came from London, was tested positive for swine flu. He was admitted to the AP General & Chest Hospital and put under medication.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister, Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, has convened a high-level meeting today to discuss measures to be initiated in preventing the spread of the H1N1 influenza.

In worrying signs, swine flu cases crossed the 1,000 mark in the country. The Centre also deputed a special delegation of officials to Hyderabad to study and suggest the necessary measures in this regard. The delegation is likely to attend the high-level meeting to be convened by the Chief Minister today, along with the officials of Medical and Health department and the doctors of Government Chest Hospital which has been announced as the nodal centre for treating swine flu cases. The officials are also planning to involve private hospitals to tackle the menace.

The State Government has already released Rs 17.6 lakh to the Chest Hospital to make arrangements for H1N1 patients. The Department of School Education is launching `School Health Programme’ to prevent incidence of any illness among school children.

To create awareness on preventive measures, brochures are being distributed in Hyderabad and other highly populated areas. Nodal officer Dr K Shubhakar says that adequate measures are being taken to prevent spread of the disease and a toll-free number `12506’ has been launched to provide information about the disease to public.

Meanwhile, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad congratulated the State administration on tackling the situation efficiently. In a telephonic conversation with the Chief Minister, Azad said that the State Government took extremely good measures when compared to other States in terms of prevention and control of spread of the disease.