Center and Delhi Health Department Join Hands in Fight Against H1N1 Influenza

Union Minister JP Nadda met Delhi’s health minister Satyendra Jain on Tuesday to review the alertness in Delhi to tackle Influenza A H1N1 in the ensuing winter months.

Though it was a tiring fight against dengue, the Delhi Government is taking no chances ahead of the H1N1 influenza (swine flu) season.

Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda met Delhi’s health minister Satyendra Jain on Tuesday to review the alertness in Delhi to tackle Influenza A H1N1 in the ensuing winter months.

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288 pregnant women have been vaccinated at six centers in the last one month and the government is planning to set up more swine flu vaccination centers.

This comes after a 59-year-old man, undergoing treatment for swine flu, died at Safdarjung Hospital this week.

The health department doubled the number of beds available for H1N1. The department has already placed orders for the drug Oseltamivir, diagnostic kits, protective gear for health workers and N-95 masks.

H1N1 spreads the same way as the seasonal flu - through droplet infections. The virus was named swine flu because in, initially, it jumped from pigs to humans. However, the situation is now different and it spreads from people to people.

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Union Health and Family Welfare Minister J.P. Nadda said that his ministry is closely monitoring the situation arising due to the surge of H1N1 influenza.

The union minister said that dealing with the H1N1 season with minimal deaths would require, “a joint effort between the Central and the state government”.

“Delhi government has been directed to ensure adequate stock of drug Oseltamivir and other consumables; and the Government of Delhi would work out a mechanism to fix ceiling rate in a realistic manner for testing of Influenza A H1N1 samples to minimize out of pocket expenditure by the general public,” said the union health ministry in a press release.

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The government announced that it will be starting testing facilities at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Vallabhbhai Patel Chest institute and the National Institute of Malaria Research.

Currently, the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC), is the main institution that offers Influenza A H1N1 diagnosis in Delhi.

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Evidence of the H1N1 influenza vaccine's safety during pregnancy was found by researchers.

Source-Medindia