Kapurthala resident dies,five more test positive for swine flu

The other samples that tested positive include three from Chandigarh (all female) and one each from Himachal Pradesh and Haryana.

Two patients from Chandigarh are admitted at GH-16 and one at PGIMER while the one from Haryana is at GMCH-32 and the other from Himachal Pradesh is at PGIMER.

Meanwhile,The Indian Medical Association (IMA) came forward to tackle the pandemic of H1N1 influenza. On the request of the Union government,the IMA organised a state-level workshop to train and sensitise doctors at Mohali on Tuesday. Chandigarh IMA president Dr Zora Singh inaugurated the workshop.

Dr Jeet Ram Kashyap,Honorary State Secretary,IMA,briefed doctors on how to tackle the situation. “As the load of patients is increasing disproportionately to the capacity of government hospitals,the role of IMA becomes very important,” he said.

During the workshop,Dr Rajesh Kumar,Professor and Head,Department of Community,School of Public Health,PGIMER,Chandigarh,said people in the age group of 10-40 years were most affected.

“There may be few more waves as has been experienced during the past flu pandemics and we should prepare ourselves,” he said.

Dr Ashish Bhalla,Assistant Professor,Department of Internal Medicine,PGIMER,Chandigarh,said: “There are currently only two drugs — Ozeltemivir and Zanamivir — effective against the H1N1 virus and we should use them judiciously so as to prevent resistance in the human body,” he said.