Five under observation for H1N1 virus, says govt

45,000 passengers have been screened across all airports.

Five people have been kept under observation for the H1N1 virus in the country as of today, even as the death toll worldwide owing to the swine flu rose to 26.

A total of 45,000 passengers have been screened across all airports that received international passengers, till this morning, ministry of health Joint Secretary Vineet Chaudhary said here today. “As of now, we have screened 12 samples and all of them have been found negative,” he said, adding that another five persons were under observation. While three of them have been kept under isolation in Delhi, two have been admitted to the hospitals in Kochi.

“The Delhi samples are being tested both at the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD), Delhi, and the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, but the Kochi samples are yet to arrive,” Chaudhary said. Among the three isolated cases in Delhi, one had arrived from Frankfurt and two had come back from the US. The government was also contemplating screening people arriving at various check posts across the country, specially in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

The suggestion came up at a meeting held through video conferencing by the cabinet secretary with all the state health secretaries. Chaudhary said 84 people, who had entered the country through these check posts, have been identified for check ups and would be tracked and screened soon.

Each state has been provided with a check list of reviews to be undertaken and has been asked to coordinate with private hospitals also to help in identifying patients with any such symptoms, Chaudhary said.

In the capital, besides Ram Manohar Lohia and Safdarjang hospitals, the Centre has identified Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and ESI Railways hospitals for creating isolation wards for flu patients in case the need arises.

Chaudhary also said it would receive the first installment of the nine million Tamiflu doses to be acquired by tomorrow morning. Director General of Health Services (DGHS) RK Srivastava also held a meeting with the state health directors and discussed technical aspects, including surveillance and laboratory support and sample collection.