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Swine Flu
Four more test positive in Delhi
Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 17
Four more persons tested positive for swine flu in Delhi, taking the total number of those affected by the (HINI) virus to 35 in the country today. Confirming the four fresh cases, Health Ministry officials said all were undergoing treatment in the isolation facility.

The latest entries in the swine flu register from Delhi include a 17-year-old male who travelled from Washington to New Delhi. Transiting via Doha he reached Delhi on June 14 and reported with symptoms to identified health facilities on June 16. Others are a 10-year-old boy who travelled from Canada and reached Delhi on June 14 and reported with symptoms on June 16. Two others- a mother (35 years) and her son (6 years)- had travelled from Chicago to Delhi on June 11 and reported with symptoms on June 15.

Delhi government sources said eight persons with suspected swine flu symptoms were still in hospital as results of tests carried out on their samples were awaited. Among the 31 schoolchildren in Jalandhar, the Health Minisitry officials say that 14 children continue to be under medication. The remaining children and about 296 contacts are under chemoprophylaxis and as of now no case has been reported among contacts.

Meanwhile, the government may stop parallel testing of samples at the National Institute of Communicable Diseases(NICD) in Delhi and the National Institute of Virology(NIV) in Pune to avoid wastage of money and delay in the process. Officials say that arrangements are being made to send all samples from Maharashtra and nearby states to Pune and rest to the NICD in Delhi.

WHO has reported 35928 laboratory confirmed cases of A(H1N1) infection from 76 countries as on June 15 and as per Health Ministry there have been 163 deaths worldwide.

In India so far samples of 329 persons have been tested of which 35 have been tested positive. Of these, only two are indigenous cases who got infection from those who had travelled from abroad. The rest of the samples have been found negative for the novel virus.

Among the 329 tested, 109 were identified through health screening at international airports, 14 identified through contact tracing and the rest were samples taken from persons who reported with the symptoms. Of the 35 cases, 12 have been discharged while rests are all stable and remain admitted to the identified health facility. With most swine flu affected people coming from the US, the government has urged the US to start screening outbound passengers for symptoms of the disease.