PESHAWAR: The NWFP Health Department said Friday that no case of the Swine flu had been reported anywhere from the province, however, all precautionary measures had been taken to cope with the situation.
“Though no such case has been reported in the province, keeping in view the epidemic nature of the disease, the Health Department has taken a number of steps to combat any such situation,” said Dr Ziaul Hasnain, deputy director public health, while talking to The News.
Dr Hasnain, who is also the secretary for provincial task force, said that the department had established quarantine at Peshawar Airport where qualified staff had also been deputed to scan the passengers for the symptoms of the disease and by getting a questioner filled out by him/her.
The doctor said that anti-viral medicines had also been acquired by the department and would be distributed to the districts if needed. He said that 270,000 capsules had been received and the quantity was sufficient for more than 25,000 patients.
To treat the patients affected by swine flu virus, the department had also established 14 sentinel sites across the province where all facilities including isolation centres had also been established, he added.
Dr Hasnain said that a letter had also been issued to all the executive district officers (health) to nominate a focal person for the district task force. He said the focal person for three tertiary care hospitals including Lady Reading Hospital (LRH), Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) and Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) had already been announced.
About the installation of thermal camera at the Peshawar Airport, Dr Hasnain said the camera was quite costly and presently it had been installed only at Karachi International Airport. The provincial government would, however, try to install the camera before the arrival of Haj flights, he added.
A provincial reference laboratory has also been established at HMC where qualified staff would be made available, he said, adding that information about precautionary measures to avoid swine flu had also been sent to all the health outlets in the province.
The official said though the disease was contagious, if proper precautionary measures were taken it could be warded off. He said the common symptoms of the swine flu were cough, temperature, throat infection, body aches, problem with breathing and tiredness. The patient infected with the virus may suffer from dysentery.
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