Srinagar: While asking people not to panic because of deaths that have occurred due to swine flu at SKIMS, officials at the hospital Thursday said that during the flu season occurrence of such cases is not alarming, besides advising people to take extra caution. 

Downplaying the ‘sensationalism’ that has been created on the issue of deaths that have occurred at SKIMS, Medical Superintendent SKIMS Dr. Syed Amin Tabish said that as of now there have been five deaths that have been reported, and three among them were having other associated ailments, “they did not die only because of H1NI virus,” he said.

“So far five deaths have been reported during this season and three among them were already suffering from Blood Cancer and Carcinoma of Rectum,” he said, adding that one who was suffering from Blood Cancer had already undergone Bone Marrow Transplant, and due to which his immunity was reduced quite drastically.

According to the MS such patients are always prone to infections due to the weakness in their immune system, “they caught the infection. We treated them, but they did not respond to the treatment because of other associate issues.”

Dr Tabish said that nobody cared to look thoroughly into the matter, and attributed deaths to H1N1, which is not true.

On the other hand, President Doctors Association of Kashmir (DAK), Dr Nisar-ul-Hassan accused authorities at SKIMS of criminal silence over the issue of deaths that have occurred due to H1N1.

Dr Nisar-ul-Hassan, who has been quite vocal on the issue of swine flu, said that authorities at SKIMS have maintained a criminal silence over the deaths that have been caused due to swine flu, “it was the media that brought forth the deaths that were caused due to swine flu, otherwise they would have kept mum,” he said.

The DAK President said that authorities at SKIMS should be coming with daily health updates on the issues, because there have been deaths and lives do matter, “in spite of coming up with regular health updates, they prefer to stay mum, and are letting the things happen, which is criminal,” he said.

Notably, the MS, SKIMS said that the infection is curable and people should not worry as it is all under control.

“We have everything in place and people need not worry,” he said, adding that currently, there are five such patients admitted in the hospital who have been treated and are stable.

He further added that people should take required precautions in order to prevent themselves from catching flu, “if they feel like their body temperature constantly remains high, or are having a running nose, sore throat, they should immediately report to the concerned hospital for treatment.”

Those having seasonal flu and are experiencing flu symptoms, are advised to stay home and take rest, “people are advised to increase the intake of fluids and make sure that they are getting proper rest and are have required sleep time,” he said, adding that crowds should also be avoided.

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