11 more H1N1 cases admitted to Aundh hospital
POSTED August 5, 2009 - 15:50 | POSTED BY Jaspreet Kaur
Last edited by Priya Markanda on August 5, 2009 - 16:39
Out of the eight suspected cases, five are students. Two of them study at a school in Aundh and one each study in schools at Pimpri, Wakad and Dehu road.
The throat and nasal swab samples of all these people have been sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, for further examination.
Traveling abroad proved to be hazardous
Rajendra Patil, medical officer at the hospital, was quoted as saying, “Out of the 11 cases that were admitted at the Aundh hospital on Tuesday, a 34-year-old professional from Pimple Gurav, who had stayed in Germany for a month and had come to Pune on July 24 via Dubai and Mumbai, tested positive for H1N1 virus.”
Patil added, “The man was admitted to a private hospital for two days, but was shifted to Aundh general hospital on Tuesday morning after realising that his symptoms were similar to that of H1N1.”
As the evening progressed, two more cases came to light; one of them being of an eight year old student from a school in Wakad and the other was that of a 32-year-old woman also staying in the same area. They had gone abroad two weeks back and were tested positive for H1N1. All of them are under observation and being given the requisite treatment.
The rest of the eight cases have turned out to be negative but all these people will be kept segregated from the crowd in the isolation ward for eight days and given the course of essential medicines.
“After completing the course we will again send their samples to NIV for testing and will be discharged only if they are completely asymptomatic. Else they will be given another course of medication for five days,” Patil elaborated.
First swine flu death causes panic
With swine flu claiming the life of a 14-year-old girl from the city, panic spread and about 25 people visited the Aundh hospital wanting to be tested for the H1N1 virus.
However, Patil said, “None of these people showed any symptoms of the flu. They had not come in contact with any confirmed case or traveled abroad, so they were sent home after the preliminary check-up.” He assured that the hospital had enough stock of Tamiflu tablets to deal with any more cases.
A 23-year old man, residing in old Sangvi, was also admitted to the hospital as he displayed symptoms akin to that of H1N1, though he had not gone abroad or come in contact with an affected patient.
Meanwhile, State health minister Rajendra Shingne and health secretary Sharwari Gokhale visited the hospital on Tuesday morning to assess the condition.
