Even as the number of people who tested positive to swine flu in west Bengal rose to 39 on Sunday, the health department issued guidelines to collect throat swabs on a priority basis.
A large number of people rushed to the city’s three swine flu clinics to undergo test. “Seven new A (H1N1) positive cases were detected on Sunday”, said Dr.Taposh Sen, nodal officer of the state health department’s swine flu wing. He said 21 people were undergoing treatment at various state-run facilities.
The large number of samples being sent in to the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED), the only swine flu testing facility in West Bengal, has created a backlog, Dr.Sen said.
“This is causing delays in the detection of patients in the detection of patients in the most vulnerable groups”, he added.
A case in point is that of Akash Chowdhury, who was admitted to the R.G.Kar medical college hospital on Tuesday but doctors had to wait till Saturday to know his results. Admitted to the hospital’s intensive care unit, his condition was critical and remained unchanged on Sunday, said Dr.Sen.
The other 20 victims, who are currently undergoing treatment, have been kept in the isolation wards of the Infectious Diseases (ID) Hospital at Beliaghata and the M.R.Bhangur Hospital. As the combined capacity of the two hospitals was only 28 beds, the authorities will have to find alternative isolation facilities.
The health department has issued guidelines that samples collected from four categories of patients will be given priority-children up to 5 years and people above 65 years, a person with an underlying disease such as diabetes, asthma or a pregnant woman, a suspect suffering from breathing difficulties, high fever or diarrhoea and an individual who has travelled abroad or has come in contact with a swine flu victim.
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