Over 130 test positive for influenza in twin cities since November

Islamabad: Of the 686 suspected influenza patients from Islamabad and Rawalpindi, whose blood samples have been sent to the National Institute of Health (NIH) for examination since November 2017, 133 have tested positive for the acute and highly infectious disease with mostly respiratory symptoms, it is learnt.

According to an official of the NIH, it is offering free specialised diagnostic services and regularly issues guidelines and alerts for doctors on how to handle epidemic-prone disease, including seasonal influenza.

The NIH's Field Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance Division regularly monitors the situation and issues advisories on prevention and control of Influenza-A H1N1 to all provincial and area health departments.

The institute has a state-of-art bio-safety level-III lab at the federal level and sentinel surveillance laboratories in seven cities, including Lahore, Multan, Karachi, Quetta, Peshawar, Gilgit and Muzaffarabad, which all offer diagnostic services for viral influenza free of charge.

Also, talk shows and seminars are regularly held in major hospitals and universities for healthcare providers. The official said the national guidelines for prevention and control of Influenza A-H1N1 had been developed by the NIH and its updated version had been shared with all stockholders, while the training sessions for rapid response teams on prevention and control of Influenza A-H1N1, sample collection and transportation, infection control and community awareness were conducted at all provincial and area headquarters.

He said all technical documents along with awareness materials were available on the NIH's website. The official said influenza occurred all over the world with an annual global attack rate of 5-10% among adults and 20-30% among children.

According to him, the most effective way to prevent the disease is annual vaccination for which safe and effective medicines are readily available on the market at reasonable prices. As for preventive measures, washing of hands, use of mask, coughing manners and annual vaccination can limit the spread of influenza, a seasonal disease occurring mostly in the winter season.

The official said flu was usually a self-limiting disease and everyone didn't need antiviral treatment and diagnostic tests. He said certain groups of patients were at a higher risk of developing severe or complicated disease and needed to be tested and treated with specific antiviral medications.

The official said among such people were pregnant women, children under 59 months, elderly people with co-morbidities, individuals with chronic medical conditions such as chronic cardiac, pulmonary, renal, metabolic, neuro-developmental, liver or hematologic diseases and patients with immunosuppressive conditions such as HIV/AIDS, receiving chemotherapy or steroids, or malignancy.