RAWALPINDI: The National Health Institute (NIH) confirmed on Wednesday that two people have died of H1N1 Influenza, or swine flu, in Wah Cantonment last week.

A resident of Wah Cantonment, Nasir Mehmood, died at the Wah Cantonment Hospital on December 18. An employee of the hospital, Masood Ahmed, contracted the virus from Nasir while treating him and died on December 19.

Prof Dr Waseem of Wah Medical College said doctors had suspected that the patients were suffering from H1N1 influenza and sent throat swabs from both men to NIH to be tested.

Executive District Health Officer Dr Arshad Ali Sabir confirmed that the NIH report had been received and that it had declared the two patients had died from swine flu.

He said the district health department had dispatched swine flu medicine to the hospital last week.

The doctor said H1N1 Influenza spreads from person to person, much like seasonal flu. The virus is spread through coughing and sneezing by infected people or by touching something with the flu virus on it and then touching the face. Dr Sabir said when a patient tests positive for the virus, treatment should be started without delay.

He added that the symptoms of the virus were also like those of the common cold, including malaise, fever, cough, headache, muscle and joint pain, sore throat, runny nose and at times, vomiting and diarrhoea.

“Washing hands several times a day is very important and swine flu patients should cover their mouth with a handkerchief or tissue paper when coughing,” he said.

Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2015