Ranchi, March 2: Jharkhand's first case of swine flu has been confirmed at a private nursing home in Ranchi where the patient, also a diabetic, is on life support.
The 40-year-old woman is a resident of the capital district's Itki block who had visited Jaipur in Rajasthan, a state in the grip of the H1N1 virus, last month.
Dr Ramesh Kumar, the state director of Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), said Mumbai-based pathology lab SRL Diagnostics, where the woman's blood sample was sent by the nursing home after she was admitted three days ago, had sent its confirmation today.
"The patient had been admitted with symptoms of flu and, hence, her blood was sent to the lab. She is also diabetic and is, currently, on ventilator support. The nursing home has started treatment in the right direction and we are praying for her quick recovery," he said.
Kumar has directed the nursing home authorities to maintain "high level of protective measures" for caregivers and inform the IDSP office of the patient's status on a regular basis.
Another man with symptoms like swine flu was admitted to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi yesterday. The resident of Dhurwa is in his mid-40s and also has a travel history of Jaipur.
"His blood sample was sent to a government diagnostic centre in Calcutta today. The result is expected in a couple of days. He is being kept at the RIMS isolation ward and being treated for flu," said Kumar.
In the first week of February, a 35-year-old man from Giridih was the first patient to be admitted to RIMS with swine flu-like symptoms. He, however, did not test positive for H1N1.
Since the patient had been to Hyderabad, a city grappling with an outbreak, in January, he had been isolated and his blood and nasal swab were sent to a New Delhi-based government research lab for tests, which came out negative. The man recovered at RIMS and was discharged on February 23.
The nationwide toll from swine flu this year has, meanwhile, touched 1,075, with the number of those affected by the H1N1 virus nearing the 20,000-mark, data collated by the health ministry had said yesterday.
