Chandigarh reports first swine flu case

A young computer science student, who had recently returned from the US, has tested positive for swine flu, becoming the first person in the city to contract the virus.     

The 19-year-old youth was hospitalised on June 22 immediately after returning from US on June 21, following symptoms of flu, officials said adding he has been quarantined.     

The student's throat swabs have tested positive for the H1N1 virus at the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD), Union Territory Nodal officer H C Gera said.     

His condition is stable and he is likely to be kept in the hospital for atleast a week.     

This was the first confirmed case of swine flu in Chandigarh although more than 20 suspected cases had been reported and tested negative over the past month, Gera said.     

Earlier in Punjab, nine students, including eight from a private school in Jalandhar and one from Mandi Gobindgarh who returned from an educational trip to the USA, were tested positive for flu.