Begin typing your search...
Pneumonia virus visits early, Tamil Nadu reports rise in cases, 5 deaths
Known to become active in February and March, the virus has been prevalent in the state since November leading to an increase in the number of patients, especially among the young and the elderly, claim doctors.
By
migrator
migrator
Chennai
Doctors across the city have been reporting a surge in the number of cases of fever, pneumonia, flu and other viral infections thanks to the presence of virus in the air. Experts also claimed that usually these diseases reach a peak during the spring months of February and March. This year, however, the virus has been active since October.
Dr K Thirupatthy, a pulmonologist at SIMS Hospital, said, “We have the presence of influenza virus in the air. One particular type of this virus is the H1N1. This is something usually happens between February and March, but it has been early this year.”
“Unlike the case every year, this year, it spurted in early October and we have been witnessing a high number of patients with H1N1 with symptoms of flu pneumonia or infection,” he added.
Apart from the virus itself, what is cause for more concern is that people have died after being attacked by it and doctors claim that it is the elderly and children who are more susceptible to the viral attack. While there has been a surge in the number of pneumonia cases among the elderly, around five senior citizens have died this year owing to diseases caused by the virus.
Dr S Shanthi, head of the department of Geriatrics at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH), who admitted to a rise in such cases among senior citizens, said, “As the elderly have a poor immune system, we have started to promote administration of vaccines because the mortality rate is extremely high among these patients.” She added that over 50 per cent of the elderly with pneumonia tend to succumb to it. “Around 25 per cent of the patients we check have respiratory problems, of which 50 per cent have pneumonia,” said Dr Shanthi.
The doctor added that in recent years, they have been able to diagnose more number of cases, which also led to identifying a greater number of pneumonia patients.
Speaking about those affected, expert advisor in child health Dr J Kumutha said that pneumonia is considered as a deadly disease for children. She, however, added that the mortality rate among young patients have decreased this year. “Until last year, the number of deaths among young pneumonia patients was 17 per 1,000 patients in Tamil Nadu. The figure decreased to almost 13 per 1,000 this year,” said Dr Kumutha.
A health official responding to a question on the total number of pneumonia deaths in TN this year, said, “While we have been keeping track of the confirmed cases as well as that of deaths this year, we are yet to compile the data. The status of total deaths in Tamil Nadu will be registered by the beginning of next year.”
While there were a large number of swine flu cases this year, doctors said that half the cases were that of pneumonia. Pulmonologist Dr Mohan K said, “Patients may have various manifestations including mild cough, fever, body pain, among others.
In fact, some may experience high fever and breathing difficulty. At times, it can lead to respiratory failure as well, which will require ICU admission. The spectrum varies widely.” Besides that, Dr Mohan added that hospitals need to segregate cases that they receive.
Influenza-like illnesses
With the number of cases of Influenza Like Illnesses (ILI) on the rise, there are plans to introduce ILI Out Patient (OP) wards in all government hospitals.
A team of experts and doctors are planning to approach the government for the wards to the hospitals within next year. “Cases we consulted this year have given us an important pointer; we realised that we have to plan or reorganise hospitals in such a way that ILI OPs are also available,” said Dr K Kolandaisamy, the director of the Department of Public Health.
Different types of ILIs
“Acute Febrile Illness (AFI) Syndrome, which is a severe form of fever, is associated with stiffness in the neck, extreme weakness or inability to stand, lethargy, unconsciousness, convulsions, severe abdominal pain, or respiratory distress. Malaria and dengue fall in this category. There is the Acute Diarrhoeal Disease (ADD), which can affect persons across all age groups, but in most cases, it is the children who get affected,” said Dr Kolandaisamy.
“Acute Flaccid Paralysis is usually defined as a sudden onset of paralysis or weakness in any part of a child’s body who is under 15 and is usually a symptom that the child is developing polio. Lastly, the Acute Encephalitis Syndrome is a fever with a clinical neurological manifestation,” added the doctor.
Even though the Central Government has been dealing with ILI on priority, hospitals in the state have been segregating the cases accordingly only when the H1N1 virus is detected in the air. An official from the health department said, “Every year, we segregate cases when the H1N1 virus is detected in air.
Once the season is over, we tend to forget about the segregation. Therefore, instead of merely looking into the functional aspect, we are planning to request the government to introduce a structural modification. A group of specialists are planning to make a proposal to the government so that it is put into practice in the beginning of next year.”
He said that the segregation should not only be introduced across all level and not just the out-patient level. “This will ensure that the patients with one kind of condition do not mingle with those with different conditions, especially pregnant women. In the olden days, there were separate wards for cholera, fever and leprosy patients. But since we do not face those diseases any more, the focus on segregated wards too was given up,” the official said adding that they are now forced to reconsider isolation wards.
Prevention is essential
While the virus spreads through air, doctors stress on the need to take steps to avoid acquiring it. Here, Dr Thirupatthy said that people must learn manners when it came to coughing, especially in public. “More people may have realised that during such troubled times they must visit a hospital if they experience any of the troubling symptoms, they are yet to maintain hygiene.”
“A simple act of covering one’s mouth and nose while coughing can go a long way in preventing the spread of the diseases but almost 80 per cent of the patients fail to do that, especially in public. Besides, they do not even know how to wash their hands properly. When people visit family members, relatives or friends who are ill and do not clean their hands, it makes them vulnerable to the virus,” the doctor added.
He also stressed on the importance of taking the right medication. “People should avoid self-medicating. Medicines for flu should not be taken without prescription. Pollution too aggravates the condition in this aspect,” Dr Thirupatthy added.
Vaccines in the pipeline
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has been funding many universal vaccine trials to treat all Influenza virus cases of which M-001, a peptide vaccine is now in the phase 3 clinical trial. It has been about 20 years in the making to get to the point of a phase 3 study
- A few other universal vaccines are also in the pipeline. The approach of these vaccines is to generate immunity to the least variable parts of the virus from different strains. To generate universal vaccines the stalk of hemagglutinin glycoprotein, which is generally conserved in different strains, is targeted
- M-001 is a peptide vaccine and does not contain viruses, dead or alive and has already completed six clinical trials in Israel and Europe. Other universal vaccines in the pipeline include live-attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) with chimeric hemagglutinin plus adjuvants and adjuvant TRAC-478
Visit news.dtnext.in to explore our interactive epaper!
Download the DT Next app for more exciting features!
Click here for iOS
Click here for Android
Next Story
