Daily Times

KARACHI: After Punjab, a private hospital in Karachi’s various areas has confirmed 35 cases of the H1N1 (seasonal influenza), with several other patients complaining of symptoms similar to that of the deadly disease.

The patients were worried due to unavailability better diagnosis and treatment facilities in the city’s hospital, while the health experts have advised precautionary measures.

The hospital is the only health centre in the metropolis which has the diagnostic facilities which can detect the presence of the virus. So far, no death in the city has been attributed to the lethal viral flu which has already claimed 18 lives in southern Punjab, particularly in Multan, the AKUH official said.

The disease’s symptoms include cough, fever, sore throat and a runny nose but complications can lead to pneumonia, other lung infections and breathing problems. Ultimately due to asphyxia, an infected person may die.

On Tuesday, year’s first case of deadly swine flu had surfaced in Lahore. National Institute of Health Laboratory, Islamabad has confirmed the disease in a female patient admitted at a private hospital in the city.

Published in Daily Times, January 12^th 2017.