A 59-year-old man, who was running a grocery shop in Vaniyambadi town, died at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) in Chennai due to multiple health complications, including infection of H1N1 influenza, in the early hours of Sunday.
As a preventive measure, officials of the Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine in Tirupattur have been undertaking a series of preventive steps including distribution of oseltamivir phosphate tablets to residents in the New Town area of Vaniyambadi municipality from Sunday onwards.
Health officials said that over 1.5 lakh persons from Tirupattur district migrate to neighbouring districts and cities like Chennai and Bengaluru and return during weekends. So, the infection might not have originated from Tirupattur. “Sunday’s incident was the first case reported in the district after many years. However, we are taking preventive steps especially in the New Town area of Vaniyambadi where he lived for many years,” T.R. Senthil, Deputy Director of Health Services (DDHS), Tirupatur, told The Hindu.
