A 26-day-old infant of Pajaru VDC died of the epidemic on Thursday, according to District Health Office (DHO) of Jajarkot, increasing the death toll to 18. Over a thousand locals have been infected in the district in the past three weeks.
A team of experts and doctors, led by Minister for Health and Population Khagaraj Adhikari, flew to the affected area in a Nepal Army chopper and returned with samples of the disease to carry out tests at Teku based National Public Health Laboratory. No blood samples were brought back.
According to a source, the team led by Health Minister Adhikari was in such a hurry that they just took the patients' throat swab as samples.
The purpose of the visit was to take the samples of blood, cough and spit from the patients in Jajarkot district. "But the health workers visiting the affected areas just took the samples from patients' throat," said one of the Bloohealth workers involved in taking the samples.
The sample of blood belonging to the infected was sent to Kathmandu on Thursday only, he informed, on condition of anonymity.
Had all the samples been taken to Kathmandu, a complete result of the disease could have been released, he argued. Out of 12 samples examined by the NPHL, H1N1 virus has been detected in three samples, according to Dr Baburam Marasini, director at Epidemiology and Disease Control Division.
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PM directs Health Ministry to intensify treatment service
Prime Minister Sushil Koirala on Thursday directed the Health Ministry to intensify treatment services to afflicted patients and bring the epidemic of Jajarkot under control.
In an emergency meeting held at Prime Minister's office, Baluwatar, PM Koirala directed Minister of Health and Population Khagaraj Adhikari, Health Secretary Shanta Bahadur Shrestha, Director General at the Department of Health Services Dr Senendra Upreti and Director at Epidemiology and Disease Control Division Dr Baburam Marasini to carry out treatment services and bring the epidemic under control as soon as possible..
"To combat the disease, deploy teams of experts to Jajarkot from the capital," said the PM. He also added that all efforts should be taken to "Stop further infection and the loss of life."
Due to health workers' reluctance to go to remote areas and a lack of timely treatment, locals there had to die needlessly, he told the senior officials of the health ministry.
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