Swine flu virus is mild; unpreparedness resulted in panic
fifteen-year-old Preshita Padhye tested positive for H1N1 virus on July 27. She spent the next five days at the isolation ward of the Aundh general hospital in Pune. "Seven of us were in the ward, including two adults," she said as she recalled the horror of the first night. "A girl next to me vomited. I called the nurse who asked me to take the girl to the toilet. I called the ward boy but he was drunk. Instead of cleaning the floor, he shouted at us and left." The hospital, she added, was a mess. "The toilet was dark, there were no lights; the commode was choked and dirty water from the toilet almost reached up to my bed."
Besides, the ward was hardly isolated--people, her parents included, could walk in anytime. "I have never felt so helpless. I shudder at the thought of leaving my daughter in such an unhygienic place.I had no choice," said Sudhir Padhye, Preshita's father.
"Not one public hospital in Pune functions properly," said Abhijit Vaidya, cardiologist and head of Arogya Sena, a campaign on disaster management and public health. "The Naidu Hospital (a public hospital in Pune) is hell. People have no faith left in the country's public healthcare system. Parents would rather not take their wards to such hospitals."
It was only after Preshita's father informed local media of the hospital's condition, did the administration take action. The hospital's walls were painted overnight and floors wiped clean. Another factor contributed to the authorities taking swift action senior health ministry officials from Delhi and Mumbai were visiting the hospital.
India was not prepared
The first case of swine flu in India was detected on May 13. This was 20 days after who sounded out the virus' pandemic potential. India claimed it was well equipped and prepared. The fact is several states started taking measures only in August.
