KARAIKAL: Karaikal confirmed its first three cases of the H3N2 virus. The patients, however, were discharged a week before they received their results on Sunday. "Around 30 samples were sent to JIPMER Hospital in Puducherry to test the presence of H3N2 around ten days ago.
The patients recovered and were discharged this past week. We learnt on Sunday that three of them were infected with the H3N2 virus," said Dr K Sivarajakumar, deputy director of health services (immunization) in the district. It is uncertain as to how the three patients contracted the virus, and officials say it is a challenge to source the infections are challenging to trace.
According to the health services department, over 1,000 people have checked into hospitals and healthcare centres with complaints of fever over the past two weeks. The general hospital and 13 primary healthcare centres in the district have been seeing 50 to 60 cases of fever each day for the past two weeks, of which at least 10 each day have had to be admitted.
"Considering the rising cases in the district, we request the public to follow guidelines such as wearing face masks, washing hands frequently and maintaining social distance to prevent the disease from spreading," Dr K Sivarajakumar added.
Officials from the health department said that patients with symptoms such as fever, cold, cough and body aches along with other comorbidities would be referred to advanced hospitals alongside medical colleges. Samples are being sent to JIPMER for severe cases, but the high number of samples and the need for accuracy during testing keeps causing delays in the confirmation of results.