Gautam Budh Nagar health department on alert over H3N2 virus

The protocol for dealing with patients presenting symptoms of H3N2 virus will be the same as the one used for Covid-19 patients, said officials

The Gautam Budh Nagar health department is on high alert due to the spread of the H3N2 virus throughout the country. This comes after Karnataka and Haryana confirmed one H3N2 influenza death each, and the Union Health Ministry has urged states to be on high alert and closely monitor the situation.

Noida district magistrate Manish Verma inspects the district hospital in Sector 30, Noida on Saturday. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

According to Dr Sunil Sharma, chief medical officer of Gautam Budh Nagar, while there are no separate guidelines from the state health department regarding the virus, the protocol for dealing with patients presenting symptoms of H3N2 virus will be the same as the one used for Covid-19 patients.

“The strategy for treating patients with symptoms consistent with the H3N2 virus, such as flu-like symptoms, high fever, persistent cough, and acute respiratory issues, remains the same as the one adopted for Covid-19 patients. This means that such patients will also be subjected to testing, contact tracing, and treatment protocols. The district health department is on high alert in such cases, despite the fact that no separate guidelines have been issued by the state health department on the subject thus far,” said Sharma on Saturday.

According to Dr Amit Kumar, the district surveillance officer, influenza antigen tests are performed on patients who exhibit influenza-like symptoms (ILI).

“The health department is equipped with sufficient influenza antigen test kits to test patients presenting ILI symptoms. To determine whether a case is of the H3N2 variant, samples will be sent to higher medical institutes in Meerut and Lucknow for genome sequencing. The district health department has yet to send any such samples for analysis.

He added that the medical infrastructure set up in the district to deal with Covid-19 cases can also be used if the number of critical influenza cases in the district increases.

“Isolation wards, NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) and integrated command control centre that were set up for Covid patients earlier will also be put in use if cases of influenza rise in the district. The district health department is keeping an eye out for cases of ILI and Severe Acute Respiratory Infections (SARI) that present in city OPDs and IPDs. So far, no such case has been reported in Gautam Budh Nagar,” said Kumar.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) issued an advisory last week urging people to wash their hands with soap and water if they are symptomatic, wear masks and avoid crowded places, and cover their mouth and nose while sneezing and coughing.

Gautam Budh Nagar DM inspects District Hospital

Meanwhile, Manish Verma, the district magistrate of Gautam Budh Nagar, conducted an unexpected inspection of the District Hospital in Sector 30 on Saturday to inspect the hospital infrastructure and hear patient complaints.

Most patients complained about the hospital’s malfunctioning lift, which causes problems for pregnant women and the elderly who need to visit departments on higher floors.

Some patients also raised the issue of hospital touts who dupe patients in the name of expediting their treatment.

“We have issued directions to look into the matter of touts operating in the hospital who are defrauding the people’s hard-earned money in times of medical crisis. Aside from that, hospital officials have been asked to resolve the issue with malfunctioning lifts and review other campus maintenance work. The hospital authorities have also been instructed to keep the area clean,” said Verma.

“We have formed a committee to investigate the matter, and appropriate action will be taken based on the findings,” said Dr Rajendra Kumar, acting chief medical superintendent at the District Hospital.