The H1N1 virus, better known as swine flu, has claimed the life of one woman in Kathmandu, causing panic among people.
The 50-year-old woman, whose name has not been revealed, died while undergoing treatment at Model Hospital on Saturday. She was admitted for asthma treatment but was diagnosed with H1N1.
On Sunday, the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division (EDCD) confirmed that her death was caused by H1N1.
Although this is the season's first death from H1NI, as many as 42 people have already been infected with it since the beginning of winter. H1N1 had killed 18 people in 2014 and four people in 2009. The EDCD has not kept records of deaths between 2010 and 2013.
Doctors at the EDCD advised people not to panic but remain cautious. "It's a seasonal outbreak," says Dr Jitendra Man Shrestha, the EDCD's focal person for H1N1. "If we are cautious, we can easily prevent infections."
Dr Shrestha advised people to drink hot water and soup if they are suffering from high fever, throat infection and cough. "If they continue to suffer from fever, they should go to hospital," he says. "Elderly people, pregnant women and children need more care as they are vulnerable to H1N1 infections."
According to Kumar Prasad Dahal, the EDCD's influenza help desk chief, the government has set up help desks at Mahendranagar, Sunauli, Birgunj and Kakadvitta. "We are advising people through these help desks to visit hospitals if they are suffering from H1NI symptoms," he says.
Between 2009 and 2014, more than 3,500 people have tested positive for H1N1. The number of reported H1N1 cases has been fluctuating since 2009.
In 2009, only 262 H1N1 cases were detected but the number rose to 530 in 2010. It fell to 242 in the following year but rose again to 1010 in 2012. In 2013, only 628 cases were detected but the number again rose to 1163 in 2014.