CHENNAI: In the wake of swine flu claiming the life of a woman in Gudiyatham in Vellore district, the State government on Monday tried to allay fears saying that all the required precautionary measures had been ensured to prevent the infection.
Responding to the issue raised by the Deputy Leader of the Opposition Durai Murugan, who said that two women in Gudiyatham in Vellore died of bird flu recently, Health Minister Dr C Vijaya Baskar informed the State Assembly that there were no attacks of bird flu but tests showed a woman died of swine flu, H1N1 infection, in Gudiyatham, while another woman died of fever well before the tests could be done.
Explaining the measures taken to keep the infection at bay, he said, “The State government have taken all the necessary precautionary measures and are keeping a watch on fever cases. So the people need not panic or be scared.”
While laboratory tests showed that S Nagammal (45), a resident of Sivakami Amman First Street, Gudiyatham, contracted H1N1 infection and died on January 27, another woman, K Vijayammal, who was residing at Sivakami Amman Second Street, died the next day on the way to hospital.
“It is not a fact to say that bird flu has hit the area”, Vijaya Baskar said and maintained that bird flu was not reported anywhere else in the State.
Following the death of the two women, who were part of a group of 23 people that went on a tour to Kerala between January 17 and January 22, a team of doctors and experts was sent to the area, the Minister told the Assembly.
All the other persons on the tour had health checks and two of them were found to be down with fever and cough and were being treated and taken care of. The entire area was sanitised and kept under surveillance, Vijaya Baskar said.