The latest victim had returned to India from New Jersey transiting through London by a British Airways flight on June 14. The infection was detected at the airport itself as the boy had flu like symptoms. The boy, not even in his teens yet, was quarantined at the AP chest hospital, a government health set up in Hyderabad.
A senior health ministry official said, “His sample has tested positive. It has been sent to National Institute of Virology (Pune) for a confirmatory test. But the patient has been put on chemoprophylaxis. We are trying to track his contacts and people who were sitting next to him in the flight.''
So far, 315 people have been tested for the swine flu infection in India. Out of 31 cases reported positive, 11 patients have been discharged after the necessary treatment.
Infections from the West
Majority, 29 out of the 31, of the positively reported cases in the country have come from the affected countries in the west. Looking at the numbers the India government has urged the developed nations to put all possible checks and balances in place so that the flu does not spread.
Health minister of Andhra Pradesh, Mr Dinesh Trivedi, said: “The government is ready to handle the situation and there is no need to panic but as the USA is main source (of Swine Flu) as far as India is concerned… Americans too, like in Mexico, should provide some kind of screening at the point of departure.”
At the same time, the Indian administration has urged the people of the country, especially youngsters, to defer all the non essential foreign visits till this deadly influenza is reigned in.
Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said, “Till this disease is controlled globally. I would like to request young people, from educational institutions going abroad, that they can suspend their visits.”
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