Cuttack: With the first case of swine flu reported in the state, authorities of the SCB Medical College and Hospital Wednesday opened a special ward for treatment of the patients.
The decision to open a special ward was taken at a high-level meeting presided over by SCB superintendent Prasanna Kumar Debata Tuesday.
Among others, SCB administrative officer Kalpataru Behera, emergency officer Bhubananda Maharana and doctors of Pulmonary Medicine department were present.
Talking to media persons after the meeting, Maharana said special treatment will be provided to the swine flu patients. Since this disease spreads rapidly, the special ward has been set up to keep the patients away from those in other wards.
He, however, said no swine flu patient has been identified in the SCB so far.
A 23-year-old woman patient August 26 from Nachuni in Khurda district was admitted to a private hospital in Bhubaneswar was found afflicted with H1N1 virus after a sample test of her cough at the Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC) laboratory.
The state had recorded 50 swine flu deaths last year even as 400 patients had tested positive.
Odisha registered the first case of swine flu in 2009 when 92 patients had tested positive for the H1N1 virus.