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Swine Flu toll 24; Pvt testing next week

Updated on Friday, August 14, 2009, 20:55 IST Tags:Swine flu, death toll, Pune

Zeenews Bureau

Pune: India on Friday reported its 24th casualty due to the deadly H1N1 virus as 70-year-old woman, Parubhai Shinde, died of swine flu here taking the death toll in the city to 15.

Pune, worst hit by the swine flu virus, witnessed subdued 'dahi handi' celebration on the occasion of Janamasthami with many community functions being cancelled.

70-year-old Parubhai Shinde, hailing from Ganesh Nagar in Yerawada, was admitted to a hospital here four days back following high fever and other symptoms of swine flu and died late tonight, health officials said.

Another senior citizen, Bharati Goyal, who was suffering from fever and breathlessness for the last four days, had been on ventilator when she died today of suspected swine flu, sources said.

An 18-year-old boy Sitaram Varma died in Raipur yesterday of suspected swine flu, the first such fatality in Chhattisgarh.

Varma, hailing from Bhilai was suffering from pneumonia and throat infection, hospital sources said. Nodal officer in-charge of swine flu cases in Chhattisgarh TK Aggarwal said that Varma's throat swab was sent to Delhi for the flu test as the boy had recently visited Pune.

Besides the fatalities in Pune, one person each has died due to the viral infection in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Nashik, Thiruvananthapuram, Chennai, Bangalore, Raipur and two in Mumbai.

37-year-old Archana Kolhe, who was shifted to government-run Sassoon Hospital on August 10 with fever and acute respiratory problems from a private hospital, succumbed to the flu in the afternoon, Pune Municipal Corporation Commissioner Mahesh Zagade told reporters.

An eight-month-old boy, Swabhiman Kamble, died late last night in Sahyadri Hospital, a designated private hospital to treat flu patients, Zagade said, adding that reports of his throat swab samples are still awaited.

44-year-old HIV positive Prabhakar Wariager died late this evening of swine flu within hours of his admission to the Sassoon Hospital.

Wairager, hailing from Watgaon village in the district, had earlier tested positive for the swine flu and admitted to the hospital in the afternoon, hospital sources said.

As the swine flu cases continued to mount, the Union health ministry has decided to conduct from today an orientation programme for experts from private laboratories engaged by the government for carrying out diagnostic test for swine flu patients.

"It was decided during a meeting with health ministry officials that two experts (doctors) from each laboratory who are engaged in conducting different tests will undergo an orientation programme before starting actual work on swine flu samples," Vinay Batra, Global Director, Sales and Marketing, Super Religare Laboratories said.

"In this orientation programme their technical staff will tell us their experience and explain certain do's and dont's while conducting the test. They will tell us the guidelines to be followed while conducting the tests, how to handle the transportation of samples, how to wear the mask, the goggles the cap and other logistics relating to this," he said.

Pvt Labs to start swine flu testing next week

Private pathological laboratories will soon start testing samples of suspected swine flu cases from next week as government on Friday conducted an orientation programs for six laboratories apprising them of the guidelines for conducting the tests.

Officials from National Institute of Communicable Diseases and Ministry of Health told the private labs, which have been shortlisted to conduct the tests, about the guidelines to be followed while conducting the tests, handling the samples and other logistics.

Delhi Health Minister Kiran Walia said "in a matter of few days we will be able to tell the labs that have been recognised to carry out the tests. We have already started the process. NICD needs to be unburdened with the load of samples sooner."

Representatives from six private labs Super Religare labroataries, Lal Path Labs, Quest diagnostic, Piramal Diagnostic, Auroprobe Laborataries and Era Health were present in the orientation programme.

Janmashtmi celebrations hit

Major 'mandals' like 'Babu Jenu Mandi Mandal' and 'Dagdu Seth Mandal' did not celebrate the festival after authorities asked them to avoid crowding to check the spread the virus.

Nearly 25 mandals in Sahakar Naagr, Lakshmi Nagar, Aryaneshwar Nagar voluntarily decided not to celebrate the festival. However, the function was celebrated on a low key in some housing societies.

District collector Chandrakant Dalvi welcomed the move and said that efforts are on to improve the situation in the next few days.

"Its a good decision by the mandals. We had appealed to them to avoid celebrations if possible as large gatherings might cause spread of flu," he said.

Zeenews Bureau

Pune: India on Friday reported its 24th casualty due to the deadly H1N1 virus as 70-year-old woman, Parubhai Shinde, died of swine flu here taking the death toll in the city to 15.

Pune, worst hit by the swine flu virus, witnessed subdued 'dahi handi' celebration on the occasion of Janamasthami with many community functions being cancelled.

70-year-old Parubhai Shinde, hailing from Ganesh Nagar in Yerawada, was admitted to a hospital here four days back following high fever and other symptoms of swine flu and died late tonight, health officials said.

Another senior citizen, Bharati Goyal, who was suffering from fever and breathlessness for the last four days, had been on ventilator when she died today of suspected swine flu, sources said.

An 18-year-old boy Sitaram Varma died in Raipur yesterday of suspected swine flu, the first such fatality in Chhattisgarh.

Varma, hailing from Bhilai was suffering from pneumonia and throat infection, hospital sources said. Nodal officer in-charge of swine flu cases in Chhattisgarh TK Aggarwal said that Varma's throat swab was sent to Delhi for the flu test as the boy had recently visited Pune.

Besides the fatalities in Pune, one person each has died due to the viral infection in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Nashik, Thiruvananthapuram, Chennai, Bangalore, Raipur and two in Mumbai.

37-year-old Archana Kolhe, who was shifted to government-run Sassoon Hospital on August 10 with fever and acute respiratory problems from a private hospital, succumbed to the flu in the afternoon, Pune Municipal Corporation Commissioner Mahesh Zagade told reporters.

An eight-month-old boy, Swabhiman Kamble, died late last night in Sahyadri Hospital, a designated private hospital to treat flu patients, Zagade said, adding that reports of his throat swab samples are still awaited.

44-year-old HIV positive Prabhakar Wariager died late this evening of swine flu within hours of his admission to the Sassoon Hospital.

Wairager, hailing from Watgaon village in the district, had earlier tested positive for the swine flu and admitted to the hospital in the afternoon, hospital sources said.

As the swine flu cases continued to mount, the Union health ministry has decided to conduct from today an orientation programme for experts from private laboratories engaged by the government for carrying out diagnostic test for swine flu patients.

"It was decided during a meeting with health ministry officials that two experts (doctors) from each laboratory who are engaged in conducting different tests will undergo an orientation programme before starting actual work on swine flu samples," Vinay Batra, Global Director, Sales and Marketing, Super Religare Laboratories said.

"In this orientation programme their technical staff will tell us their experience and explain certain do's and dont's while conducting the test. They will tell us the guidelines to be followed while conducting the tests, how to handle the transportation of samples, how to wear the mask, the goggles the cap and other logistics relating to this," he said.

Pvt Labs to start swine flu testing next week

Private pathological laboratories will soon start testing samples of suspected swine flu cases from next week as government on Friday conducted an orientation programs for six laboratories apprising them of the guidelines for conducting the tests.

Officials from National Institute of Communicable Diseases and Ministry of Health told the private labs, which have been shortlisted to conduct the tests, about the guidelines to be followed while conducting the tests, handling the samples and other logistics.

Delhi Health Minister Kiran Walia said "in a matter of few days we will be able to tell the labs that have been recognised to carry out the tests. We have already started the process. NICD needs to be unburdened with the load of samples sooner."

Representatives from six private labs Super Religare labroataries, Lal Path Labs, Quest diagnostic, Piramal Diagnostic, Auroprobe Laborataries and Era Health were present in the orientation programme.

Janmashtmi celebrations hit

Major 'mandals' like 'Babu Jenu Mandi Mandal' and 'Dagdu Seth Mandal' did not celebrate the festival after authorities asked them to avoid crowding to check the spread the virus.

Nearly 25 mandals in Sahakar Naagr, Lakshmi Nagar, Aryaneshwar Nagar voluntarily decided not to celebrate the festival. However, the function was celebrated on a low key in some housing societies.

District collector Chandrakant Dalvi welcomed the move and said that efforts are on to improve the situation in the next few days.

"Its a good decision by the mandals. We had appealed to them to avoid celebrations if possible as large gatherings might cause spread of flu," he said.

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