Most cases of swine flu are reported too late, say doctors.
The frontlines in the battle against the swine flu epidemic resemble a war zone, with many hospitals forced to create special zones to treat the crowds of patients scrambling for treatment.
Leading the exhausting and exhaustive effort at Ahmedabad's Civil hospital - one of the main government hospitals in the city - is Dr Rajesh Solanki, who heads a team of a dozen doctors and nurses. In this Gujarat city, nearly 300 cases of swine flu have been diagnosed over the last four days days - that's more than half the cases in all of Gujarat during this period.
"At present, whatever number of patients we are getting at the OPD (Out Patient Department), a sizeable number are turning out to be affected by the virus, so the pressure is much more but we are working round the clock to ensure that they are taken care of," said Dr Solanki, wearing a mask, seated among patients he is seeing.
His team has been working in eight-hour-long shifts. Breaks are rendered impossible by the endless stream of families who arrive desperate for help.
Dr Solanki's squad takes care of about 400 suspected swine flu patients who come to the OPD. At present there are about 192 confirmed swine flu patients admitted to the hospital. There are four other government hospitals which also have facilities to cater to swine flue patients. But Civil Hospital has become the epicentre.
The doctors, despite precautions like vaccinations and doses of Tamiflu, are at risk of contracting the disease, which is highly infectious. At least three doctors have been have been affected by the virus so far and quarantined, but their colleagues continue to battle on, carrying out comprehensive checks on all those who come in complaining of flu-like symptoms.
While officials maintain that late reporting of cases is the primary cause for the surge in patients, there are concerns the government may have reacted late to the crisis. Door-to-door surveys were initiated only a week ago, once swine flu cases started to peak. Special OPDs catering to the swine flu cases were started only about 10 days back, even though the epidemic has been around for much longer.