At least 282 active cases of Influenza in Tamil Nadu: Ma Su

CHENNAI: Health Minister Ma Subramanian on Thursday inspected a fever ward at the Institute of Child Health and said that cases of seasonal flu after the recent rains, are surging in the State. Currently, there are 282 influenza cases being treated in Tamil Nadu.

He said that there are no cases of Influenza at the Egmore Children's Hospital and there are 129 children in hospital care, of which 121 are fever cases and 8 are dengue cases. The Minister also denied the lack of availability of beds in government or private hospitals in the State.

"The rise in the cases of seasonal flu is common after rains and there is no need to panic. There were reports of unavailability of beds at ICH, which is completely baseless. None of the children admitted to ICH have Influenza but normal fever," he said.

He said that the common symptoms include cough, fever or sore throat and it is important to be cautious when children have these symptoms. He emphasised on the need to maintain social distancing and practice handwashing to stay safe from infections and prevent the spread of infections.

He further added that the hospitals and district healthcare officials have been instructed to follow the treatment recommendations and irrespective of the type of infection, the safety precautions should be taken based on the type of case as per the categorisation and adequate treatment should be followed. Currently, the State has 243 cases of dengue among children. Necessary medications and beds are available in urban and rural primary health centres for the treatment of all these cases, he added