The
Sunday
Newsline PUNE
Flu scare grips city, Puenites stay put at home Central railways begins H1N1 awarenss drive
Musical resurgence Of dresses and derby ... pg 8
... pg 3
SKYWATCH FORECAST:A few spells of rain TEMPERATURE: MAXIMUM 28.6 ° C MINIMUM 21.7 ° C SUNRISE: 0614 SUNSET: 1907
MOONRISE: 2125 MOONSET: 0845
PUNE I AUGUST 9, 2009
Swine flu: 15 against 49, officials differ on numbers Oinam Anand
NISHA NAMBIAR AUGUST 8
E
Artisans decorate pots for the Dahi Handi festival that marks the birth of Lord Krishna Sandeep Daundkar
VEN as there was a rush of people to the 23 screening centres in Pune and PimpriChinchwad areas and at Naidu Hospital and Aundh Hospital, the city registered 15 new swine flu cases on Saturday — according to Additional chief secretary (health) Sharvari Gokhale — at Aundh Hospital, Naidu Hospital and Sassoon General Hospital’s critical ward as against 39 cases registered on Friday. However, Dr Ashok Laddha, nodal officer appointed by the state government put the figure for Saturday at 49, wherein he mentioned that Naidu Hospital had 25 fresh cases, Aundh Hospital 21 cases and Sassoon Hospital three. Gokhale said the situation in the state was better with only 18 fresh cases being registered on Saturday, which she said was a “good sign”. But Dr Laddha, citing figures for the entire state given by the state swine flu control cell for Saturday, said that of the 33 suspected cases in Naidu Hospital, 25 tested positive, in Aundh, out of 28 admitted, 21 tested positive, and Sassoon Hospital had three cases as the final tally, taking the total tally in Pune to 49. In Mumbai, Kasturba Hospital registered 20 positive cases out of the 32 admitted and Satara had seven positive cases of the 10 admitted, Dr Laddha added. On Saturday, a team from the National Institute of Communicable Diseases was in the city to take stock of the situation. State surveillance team officer Dr R R Katti said the team was here to assess the situation. Meanwhile, Gokhale added
RENITHA RAVEENDRAN AUGUST 8
A couple outside the quarantine ward at Naidu Hospital on Saturday
Three more test positive at Sassoon Hospital The three suspected cases admitted to Sassoon Hospital on Friday have tested positive for swine flu. A 42year-old teacher from Daund who was visiting Pune, a 19-year-old from Kasba Peth and a 13-year-old girl from Ahilyadevi School at Shaniwar Peth have tested positive for H1N1 on Saturday. Meanwhile, the doctor and chemist admitted on Thursday are critical but stable. Superintendent at Sassoon Dr P Pawar said three patients were admitted on Friday and all have tested positive. The teacher from Kedgaon in Daund was in the city for last one week. He first went to a hospital in Hadpsar at an OPD but soon contracted pneumonia and was brought to Sassoon. Dr Pawar said he has been put on ventilator. Late on Saturday evening a pregnant woman was admitted with symptoms of swine flu and her throat and nasal swabs were sent for test. Reports are awaited, Pawar said.
that private hospitals that have all the amenities as laid down by the Union Health Ministry will be considered for taking in patients.
‘I was forced to buy tea with LPG cylinder’ NISHA NAMBIAR AUGUST 8
T
HIS resident of Aundh had to pay Rs 333 instead of the regular Rs 311 for her Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) LPG cylinder on Friday. Reason: Vilasini Arvind Menon was forced to buy a 100-gm Tata tea premium packet worth Rs 22 by the agency. Though BPCL has a
Sandeep Daundkar
scheme of giving grocery products at much less than the actual Maximum Retail Price (MRP), it was not supposed to be a forced one. However, Menon was strictly told to buy the tea packet or else face a problem with the services henceforth. “With such a warning, I bought the tea packet,” said Menon. Her son Deepak Menon said this was like bullying customers. He also checked with R&D CC agency in
Ganeshkhind and the dealer and was told that they were asking all the clients to buy the tea packet. “I want the top management to look into it,” he said. When Newsline contacted the agency, one of the clerks said they had plenty of tea packets dumped in the shop and were thus forced to push them onto the customers. “What do we do with so many packets,” he said. Chairman of R&D CC
Menon with the tea packet she was forced to buy society L N Bhujbal said he had a stock of tea packets
In red light area, a high-risk group
and hence asked the agency to give it to the clients. “But I did not tell them to force people to buy them,” he added. BPCL territory manager Anil Shukla said he would take necessary action against the agency. “For the last four years BPCL has had schemes to sell grocery products at cheaper rates. It clicked very well. But this is not compulsory. I am surprised at the attitude of the chairman of R&D CC,” he said.
IN the wake of swine flu spreading in Pune, over 3,000 sex workers in the city’s red light area are a worried lot. Many sex workers in Budhwar Peth are HIV positive and they remain one of the most vulnerable groups when it comes to contracting the H1N1 virus. “The immunity level of an HIV positive person is low. There is a possibility of them being infected by the H1N1 virus faster than a normal person. They come under the high risk group. Their profession also brings them in close contact with an affected client. Immediate prevention measures should be taken in such vulnerable areas,” said Dr Anil Jayawant, resident medical doctor, Pune Cantonment Board. Sex workers said for the last couple of days there has been a decline in the number of people visiting the brothels. “Most of the sex workers here are not aware of the flu,” said Payal, a 25-year-old sex worker. She added that a few sex workers who were down with flu didn’t take it seriously. NGOs working in the area said they were doing their best to create aware-
ness. According to Tejaswi Savekari , director, Saheli, an NGO working with sex workers in Budhwar Peth, there has been around 50 per cent decline in the visit here. “We are doing our best to create awareness, but the authorities need to take preventive measures,” she said. Though there are private doctors in the area, most of the sex workers visit the NGO’s in-house doctors. Dr Savera Pawar, project co-ordinator and medical officer of Kayakalpa, another NGO, said she hardly got any flu cases in last one week. “We tried to brief as many sex workers as possible. But I have not got any flu case in last one week. Usually, people don’t visit the clinic just for flu,” she said. With stories doing the rounds that the virus can be sexually transmitted, some sex workers have stopped entertaining clients. “I am worried about my children getting affected. This is definitely hurting my daily income, but I have to take care of my child too,” said Saira, another sex worker. Dr Jayawant said though the virus cannot be sexually transmitted, a sex worker coming in contact with an affected client will be at high risk.