"A lot of people might have been infected with seasonal flu as well as swine flu," Dr Sher Bahadur Pun of the STIDH said, adding that a lot of patients prefers to visit private centers and medical colleges. He said that preventing deaths and epidemics will be a main challenge this winter, as many people, whose homes were destroyed by the devastating earthquake, have been sharing a single makeshift tent.
According to Dr Pun, chances of flu spread increases in crowded places. The ongoing Indian blockade, too, has compelled people to travel in packed vehicles, which heightens the risk of passing on infections quite significantly.
Meanwhile, Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) said that preventing deaths from seasonal flu and its epidemic in winter is one of the main challenges for the authorities. Officials at the MoHP said that they have directed the officials concerned to take precautionary measures to prevent deaths and control possible epidemic from seasonal flu.
"We have directed the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division to be prepared for the possible epidemics," Shanta Bahadur Shrestha, secretary at the MoHP, said. He claimed that the EDCD is all prepared to control the possible epidemic.
According to the Secretary Shrestha, the number of patients suffering from cold related ailments has gone up in hospitals following the severe drop in temperature throughout the country. He said that a lot of quake victims living in makeshift shelter are at the high risk of infection as they are exposed to cold.
He said that the MoHP would take care of the ailing patients and urge other concerned agencies to take care of the needs of the quake victims.
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