HYDERABAD: Of late, there has been an increase in the number of swine flu patients and one precaution that district surveillance teams are particular about is tracking people who came in close contact with the patients so as to curb the spread of infection.
And if a large number of such people in the city are in need of the flu prophylactic on Sundays, they would not be able to get their hands on drugs as an office where the tablets are stored remains closed on Sundays.
Well, this is not a crisis impending as 12 members of the family of 17-month-old boy could not be given the tablets as the office remained closed on Sunday. The boy was dianosed with the infection on Saturday and admitted to the Gandhi Hospital.
The office is located in the GHMC building in Secunderabad and the corporation locks its doors on Sundays. Which means the district surveillance team members have to wait till the GHMC opens its doors on Monday.
Dr Rukma Reddy, an epidemiologist and part of the District Surveillance Team, said they could not distribute it to the family members on Sunday as the number of people in need of the tablets was big. “The office remains closed on Sunday. We will give them the tablets on Monday morning,” Dr Rukma said.
He said that some tablets are kept as contingency with Multi Purpose Health Assistant but those were not sufficient as 12 members needed the tablets.