One-year-old Yana Mehta was discharged from the Lakeside Hospital in Bangalore on Monday after she recovered from the flu — no ordinary flu, but Influenza A, H1N1. The state has so far reported 43 deaths from H1N1; 602 people are reportedly infected by the virus in the state. Yana’s parents came to Bangalore from Dharwad seeking the best remedy for their daughter. Sunitha and Sandeep Mehta spoke to DNA of their experience.
When was your child detected with H1N1?
Yana had a fever which just did not subside for about a week. She was hospitalised in Dharwad on August 24 and doctors said she suffered from pneumonia. They tested her for H1N1, though she only ran a fever and showed no other symptoms. Her throat swab sample was taken, and we waited for five days. Then we got the news that she was positive. She had to be in an isolation ward, and that was not possible in Dharwad. Doctors referred us to the Lakeside Hospital. We brought her here on September 3.
What to do you think would be the source of infection of your daughter?
We have no clue at all where she might have contracted the virus. She played with other children in the neighbourhood — and we did not know of any of them having the virus.
Did Yana have any notion at all of what had happened?
When we first arrived in Bangalore, she was afraid of nurses and doctors. In Dharwad, she was given saline and injections. Those made her fear doctors and nurses. Now that her treatment is over, she is happy to greet the doctors. She knows she was unwell, but had no clue about the disease. She had lost her appetite, but that has revived now.
Is there anything more you think the government should do for patients of H1N1?
First and foremost, testing ought to happen faster. We got our little girl’s results five days after the sample was submitted. Fortunately, Yana did not develop any complications. But we know of instances where the virus has acted quicker, triggering multiple-organ failure. There are no isolation wards in other districts in the state. We could afford to get our child to Bangalore, but that is perhaps not something that a lot of people can do.
What is the ideal way, in your opinion, to treat a patient who has recovered?
Our daughter is still too young for school. But for students who might be suffering from H1N1, it would be traumatic to learn that the whole school was shut because he or she got some disease. A more scientific way of dealing with the situation should be worked out, protecting other children from risk without traumatising the infected child. Once the child returns to school after recovery, he or she should not feel isolated and insulted by other children or school staff.
Comments