Director of Health and Family Welfare Dr P Sambasiva Rao denied deaths due to swine flu in Telangana although he admitted 81 people had tested positive.
Director of Health and Family Welfare Dr P Sambasiva Rao on Wednesday denied reports of deaths due to swine flu in Telangana although he admitted that as many as 81 people had tested positive for the disease.
Addressing a press conference at the Directorate of Medical & Health at Sultan Bazar, Dr Sambasiva Rao said that the eight deaths which were reported in a section of media were not due to swine flu, but due to other diseases.
He said that the State Government had distributed anti-swine flu medicines in all the hospitals across the State.
Claiming that swine flu was not a life-threatening disease, he accused a section of doctors and private hospitals of creating panic among the people.
He said that all private hospitals had been asked to henceforth send swine flu patients to government hospitals for treatment.
He said of the 852 samples collected from different patients, 81 tested positive for swine flu.
All patients were in the age group of 31-45 years, and most of the cases had been reported from the Old City of Hyderabad.
Stating that fever, cough, body and muscle pains were the common symptoms of swine flu, Dr Rao advised people to consume hygienic food and stick to a balanced diet, and keep their environments clean, to prevent the disease. (INN)