Gujarat have reported 940 cases of flu so far this season, despite the fact that 13 patients are now being hospitalized for swine flu at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, include four are receiving oxygen and one is receiving Bipap ventilatory support.
The eight municipal corporations of Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot, Gandhinagar, Bhavnagar, Junagadh and Jamnagar have further reported a total of 14 deaths so far due to the endemic ailment.
Ahmedabad city has reported the highest number of swine and seasonal flu cases in the state at 543 patients confirmed so far, followed by 177 cases in Vadodara city. There have been 100 cases reported from Surat city from January 1 to August 23, 2020.
There were 72 cases in Rajkot city but just 20 in Gandhinagar, all of them in August. There have been 18 cases in Bhavnagar, 4 cases in Junagadh and 6 reported from Jamnagar so far.
Giving a dire warning not to take the flu lightly, especially in light of the havoc caused by Covid in the last two years, Dr Pankaj Rathod, Medical officer of Health (MoH) for Rajkot said
“While we may have fewer cases, we are seeing a lot of hospitalisations with patients needing to be put on oxygen support. Swine Flu is not to be taken lightly. While hospitalisation rate for Covid-19 was 1%, it is about 50% for swine flu.”