The current spell of rain in the State attributed to strong western disturbance has also ensured drop in temperature. The health department officials battling on swine flu front are worried as reduced atmospheric temperature means that swine flu is here to stay for some more time. On Monday, samples of four patients arrived from National Centre of Disease Control (NCDC) and to the relief of the health officials and their family members, all the cases were found negative. The health officials collected samples of three suspected patients of swine flu admitted in the Himalayan Institute Hospital Trust (HIHT) on Monday and dispatched them to Delhi for confirmation of the disease.
The mercury had started taking an upward trend in last week but the spell of rain on Sunday and Monday brought down the temperature considerably. The medical experts are of view that the virus of swine flu gets subdued at atmospheric temperature of 30 degrees and more. The maximum temperature which was in excess of 32 degrees last week crashed down to around 25 degrees in last two days. The weathermen have predicted rainfall from April 2 which means that the temperature would be on cooler side.
The Deputy Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr Madan Bonal told The Pioneer that the number of cases of swine flu could increase if the current spell of rains continues for some more days.
With six deaths and 66 positive cases of swine flu Dehradun district is the worst swine flu affected district in the State. The health officials claim that they have adequate stock of swine flu medicine and protective equipment for health workers.
