7 new swine flu cases in city

NEW DELHI: Seven new H1N1 positive cases were reported from Delhi on Wednesday, taking the total number to 312. One patient was a 14-year-old girl studying in DPS, RK Puram. The other six were adults, though sources said that none had a contact history. Interestingly, while the Centre claimed that eight cases were reported in Delhi, the city government said the number was seven.
The case of the DPS RK Puram student comes hard on the heels of several others from Delhi schools.Said state health minister Kiran Walia, "We are closely monitoring the cases. The good news is that the cases reported as serious yesterday are responding to treatment.''
Incidentally, another child tested positive for H1N1 late on Tuesday night. "The patient is a two-year-old girl who was admitted with mild respiratory distress late in the evening. She had fever for a day. She is responding to treatment now,'' said Dr N K Chaturvedi, medical superintendent, RML Hospital. He added that the other two cases reported as serious on Tuesday were stable till late Wednesday evening. Both had secondary complications, with the 22-year old man from Riyadh developing renal failure. "Both are responding to antibiotics and Tamilflu,'' added the doctor.
Meanwhile, sources said food and supplies minister Haroon Yusuf's two sons, who had tested positive on Tuesday, were in home quarantine. The number of cases under home quarantine was now 495.
The day also saw Union health joint secretary meet Delhi chief secretary Rakesh Mehta on the issue. According to sources, Vineet Choudhary asked the CS to ensure that the screening process didn't lead to crowds converging in a few hospitals only. Said a senior official, "The reiteration was on distributing the crowds to neighbouring designated hospitals, so that referral hospitals like AIIMS and RML don't get inundated in cases.''
The increasing cases of H1N1 also saw Delhi government invoke the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897, and get private hospitals to reserve 10 beds with isolation facility for treating H1N1 patients. This facility needs to be ready in the next 15 days.