First Swine Flu case confirmed in NWFP

PESHAWAR: The NWFP Health Department Friday confirmed the first Swine Flu Influenza (H1N1) case in the province after National Institute of Health (NIH) Islamabad verified that an Afghan woman had tested positive for the pandemic.

It was learnt that the 40-year-old Lateefa was expecting a birth and was brought with severe chest infection from Herat province of Afghanistan to a private hospital, North-West General Hospital and Research Centre, Peshawar.

The condition of the woman deteriorated when she was hospitalised. The doctors requested the management of Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC), a tertiary care hospital in public sector, to examine the ailing woman, as they feared that she had symptoms of Swine Flu Influenza.

This correspondent made various attempts to get the update about the patient’s condition from the management of the private hospital but was told that the doctors could not comment on the case as they had no reports about the confirmation of Swine Flu (H1NI) virus in the patient.

Sources said the public health department sent a team of doctors to the private health facility to get the sample from the infected woman. The hospital management told the team: "We have taken the sample from the woman and sent it to NIH. Today we received the report that she has been tested positive for Swine Flu (H1N1) Influenza," said NWFP Director General of Health Services, Dr Fazl Mahmood.

He said the health department immediately sent a team of doctors to the hospital and educated the staff about all the precautionary steps to prevent the spread of the disease.

The top health official said the patient who was in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) was shifted to an isolated ward. The hospital central air-condition system was also switched off as it could cause the spread of the pandemic virus, said the official and added that all required medicines for the disease were also provided to the hospital.

He said the health department had taken precautionary steps and an area with four rooms had been apportioned for such patients at the HMC, he said. The official said the health department had sufficient medicines to cope with an epidemic situation in the province.

Dr Fazal Mahmood said it was the first case reported in the NWFP and the patient had come from neighbouring Afghanistan. He said in Afghanistan the cases of Swine Flu were regularly reported and death had also been reported there due to the very disease.

According to World Health Organisation (WHO), pandemic (H1N1) 2009 is a new influenza virus that was never circulated among humans before. After outbreak in North America early in 2009, the virus spread rapidly around the world. Pandemic influenza is transmitted like seasonal influenza but people have virtually no immunity to it.

Around two million Pakistanis live in Europe, North America and other countries where the Swine Flu pandemic has appeared.

The health experts believe that the symptoms of Swine Flu include fever, which is usually high, but unlike seasonal flu, is sometimes absent, cough, watery eyes, runny nose or stuffy nose, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills, fatigue or tiredness, which can be extreme, diarrhea and vomiting, sometimes, but more commonly seen than with seasonal flu.

Signs of a more serious Swine Flu infection might include pneumonia and respiratory failure, experts said.The precautionary steps include frequent washing of hands with soap and hot running water. If some one develops a fever of 100.5F or higher than that, he or she should contact doctor and start taking plenty of fluids.

If one coughs or sneezes, he should cover his nose and mouth with a tissue and then toss it out. Turn the face into the crook of the elbow to keep germs from flying away. Avoid people who have a fever, cough, or sneezing, or complain of any flu-like symptoms, the experts said.