Suspects collected of swine flu Samples

A government health team collected samples of five persons suspected to be suffering from swine flu. The persons are relatives of one

Ashish Dhani, who tested positive to the pandemic on Monday. Director, health, Dr I S Srivastava said that the samples have been dispatched to National Institute of Communicable Diseases for investigation. The reports are expected in next 4 to 5 days.

Ashish is a native of Snehnagar in Alambagh and studies in Pune. As a part of some academic activity, Ashish had gone to America. Here he stayed for about a fortnight and returned to India. He first went to Mumbai and took a flight to Delhi to reach his native place, Lucknow. Here he stayed with his parents when flu like symptoms

came to light. Local health authorities got him examined but before the tests could confirm something, he went back to Pune. In Pune, he got himself checked thoroughly and the reports tested positive for swine flu.

Swine flu in Scotland

The total number of swine flu cases in Scotland has topped the 1,000 mark for the first time.

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said a further 196 cases were recorded over the past three days, bringing the total across the country to 1,118.
The overwhelming majority of new cases were in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde and Lanarkshire NHS areas.
Meanwhile, new figures revealed that most of those affected by swine flu in Scotland are under the age of 24.
The statistics from Health Protection Scotland showed 10% of cases were aged four or under, with 32% between 5-14, and a further 21% aged between 15-24.
Only 4% of Scottish swine flu victims are over the age of 55, the figures showed.
'Some reassurance'
On Saturday, A 73-year-old man became the second person in Scotland with swine flu to die.
The pensioner's death followed that of a 38-year-old woman who gave birth prematurely while being treated at the Royal Alexandra Hospital.
A young girl suffering from swine flu died at Birmingham Children's Hospital on Friday.
All three victims were said to have had underlying health problems.
Ms Sturgeon stressed: "The medical evidence and patterns seen in the early stages offer some reassurance that in the majority of cases symptoms are mild with recovery for people in otherwise good health generally straightforward.
"While the two deaths to date in Scotland from H1N1 have been regrettable and tragic for the families involved, underlying medical conditions were a factor in both situations."
An elderly man who was suffering from swine flu has died, health officials have confirmed.
The 73-year old was being treated at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley at the time. He died late on Saturday.
A spokesman for the Scottish Government said he was suffering from underlying health complications.
The pensioner, from Inverclyde, passed away late on Saturday night. He is the second person in the UK who was suffering from swine flu to die.
The first death, earlier this month, was a 38-year-old woman who gave birth prematurely while being treated at the Royal Alexandra Hospital. She also had underlying health conditions.

Her death was the first connected to swine flu outside the Americas.
The pensioner who died had been in intensive care for 15 days.
Scottish Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: "Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the patient at this tragic and very sad time. The family have asked for the patient's identity to be kept private.
"Although it is concerning that the patient had swine flu, we are aware that the patient had very serious underlying health issues.
"It's important to remember that the vast majority of those who have H1N1 are suffering from relatively mild symptoms.
A family spokesperson said: "Our beloved relative was private in life and we would ask that his privacy continues to be respected as we try to come to terms with our loss."
Dr Harry Burns, Scotland's chief medical officer, said the death was a "tragedy" but also underlined that it was only the second death from swine flu in well over 4,000 cases in the UK.
Flu pandemic
He told the BBC: "It's a tragedy, but it doesn't change our view that this is no more serious than winter flu.
"In fact this is the second case in about four and a half thousand cases that we've seen in the UK and that makes it a lot less severe, much less aggressive than we would normally see with a winter flu virus.
"What happens with winter flu is there is no publicity," he added.
According to the latest available figures, there were more than 4,200 laboratory confirmed cases in the UK.
Of these, 3,364 cases are in England, 922 in Scotland and 24 in Northern Ireland.
Four new cases were confirmed in Wales on Sunday bringing the total to 17.
60,000 cases
It also emerged on Saturday that three people attending the Glastonbury Festival have been diagnosed with suspected swine flu.
Two students and a 10-year-old child from a family of four showed symptoms of the illness when examined by festival medical staff.
The students, from Exeter and Edinburgh universities, and the family were moved off the festival site and into an isolation facility.
They have since returned home.
The H1N1 virus first emerged in April in Mexico, which has recorded 116 deaths and 8,279 cases, according to the World Health Organisation.
On 11 June, the WHO declared a global flu pandemic, meaning that swine flu virus was spreading in at least two regions of the world.
Officials stressed that this did not mean the virus was causing more severe illness or more deaths.
According to the latest figures from the WHO, there have been 263 deaths and nearly 60,000 cases in some 100 countries and territories.

Swine flu scare

When Zil Shah and his friends received the invitation for a six-day programme at NASA, the swine flu outbreak in US didn’t deter them. But, the 15 kids made sure they took necessary precautions. Says Deepak Shah, Zil’s father who accompanied the students, “All of us were made to wear safety masks as soon as we landed at New York airport and we underwent a medical test there.”
NASA too took precautions and maintained a hygienic ambience on its premises. “NASA has air-purifiers installed at their station. Besides, food and water was pure and our living quarters were well-maintained,” says Sonam Shah, 18. When they landed in Ahmedabad, they had to undergo a check-up. Says Abhimanyu Tripathi, 11, “We were made to fill a medical form at the airport. We were checked for common cold and our travel details were looked into.”
Parents, however, are taking no chances. “We have collected blood samples of participants and will be sending them for tests to Mumbai within this week,” says Zil.

Swine flu patient under watch

The seven-year-old girl the first swine patient in Kolkata will remain under treatment at the Beliaghata ID Hospital for at least
two weeks. The medical team at Kolkata airport has, meanwhile, sent details of all 250 of her co-passengers on board the Thai Airways flight she arrived in early on Tuesday to the state government, said an airport medical officer.
Those among the 250 who hail from Bengal will be identified and monitored to see whether they have acquired the H1N1 virus from her. Details of the other passengers will be communicated to their respective state governments by Writers' Buildings.
Yet another passenger was quarantined on Thursday after he landed at the Kolkata airport on board an Air India Express flight. The 50-year-old man from Ghaziabad, UP, arrived after a three-year stint in Bangkok. On being medically examined, he was detected with fever and breathing trouble. The passenger was then sent to Beliaghata ID Hospital where he will be quarantined.
The girl detected with swine flu has congestion in her lungs and severe bodyache, even though her temperature has subsided. According to doctors at the hospital, she should recover in five days but will have to be confined to the isolation ward.
She, along with her brother and parents, was on her way back from Australia via Bangkok when Kolkata airport officials referred her to the hospital.
A day after swab tests at National Institute of Cholera and Communicable Diseases (NICED), Delhi, confirmed that she had the viral disease, ID Hospital authorities issued a warning for the city. "This is a highly contagious disease, so we need to be careful. We have asked her family to be alert. Her mother has been given a preventive medicine, as she is attending to her. In fact, all the passengers of the Thai Airways flight by which the family travelled to Kolkata should be warned," said Goutam Pal, associate professor at the hospital.
Special arrangements have been made at the ward to prevent infection. All employees and doctors attending to her have been given a special protection kit. Disinfectants, gloves, masks and shoe covers are being used. The patient has been prescribed Tamiflu the only recognized drug for H1NI, that causes swine flu.
The girl's family, however, said they were unhappy with the arrangements. Her mother expressed doubts whether she was indeed suffering from swine flu. "Nothing has happened to my daughter. She has been confined to this hospital without any reason. The conditions here are unhygienic. The isolation ward is extremely dirty," she said. The family is based in Jamshedpur.
But the hospital authorities refused to pay any heed to the allegations. "We have no doubt that she has the virus. The NICED report has confirmed H1N1 and we are not going to have any more tests. She will remain here till we are sure that the virus is not going to infect others. Even though for adults, the quarantine period is usually seven days, it is 14 days for children. She is responding to drugs, but we have kept a team of doctors from NRS Medical College ready for an emergency," said Pal.
It was not clear if the girl got infected in Australia, where she had gone with her family on a vacation. "They have said that all four of them had upper respiratory tract infection in Australia, where temperatures hovered around the five-degree mark," Pal said.
On Wednesday, NICED, New Delhi, informed the hospital over phone that the girl had tested positive for swine flu. In accordance with ICMR rules, the test results need to be confirmed by at least two institutes which include NICED, New Delhi and NIV, Pune.

Her father, who left for Jamshedpur with his three-year-old son, has been informed about the report.

Quarantine movies on Swine flu

What do you do? You’ve been sent home from work and ordered to stay there for a few days after coming down with a suspected case of swine flu.You’re probably going to head for the goggle box and chuck a disc in the DVD player to stave off the almost inevitable boredom.And if your copy of Point Break is too scratched to play anymore, or if you want to embrace the moment, here’s Stuff.co.nz’s top 10 movies to watch under swine flu quarantine. Warning: If you are of a delicate disposition or under the age of 18 some of these movies may not be for you. 
10. Outbreak (1995)
The military is trying to control a deadly virus rampantly spreading across the United States after being introduced by a smuggled monkey. This film pretty much embodies the pandemic freak-out scenario all those conspiracy theorists say the media is trying to convince you of. 
9. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Get bitten by a zombie, turn into a zombie - that’s how it usually works in the movies and it’s a pretty simple metaphor for disease spreading. George A Romero does zombie films better than anyone else, as you’d expect from a guy who’s been writing them for more than 40 years. Of course, there are other social issues worked in along with some chases, shooting and explosions. 
8. Cabin Fever (2002)
Five bright young things fresh out of university catch a flesh-eating disease after one of them drinks from a reservoir, where someone just dumped the body of a diseased hermit. 
7. The Thing (1982)
A team of scientists isolated in the Antarctic come under attack from an alien with the ability to take over other bodies, so no one knows who to trust/ It’s a bit like what your flatmates are going to be thinking when they come home and find that you might have swine flu.
6. Patch Adams (1998)
A story about healing through humour, as a former mental health patient goes against the methods of a cold and detached medical establishment. Starring Robin Williams.
5. Blade 2 (2002)
Vampires are almost as popular as zombies as a disease metaphor. This movie takes it a step further by introducing a new strain of mutant vampires. One of the selling points you might see on the back of the DVD case is that it’s "better than the original," thanks to the direction of Mexican sci-fi/fantasy geek Guillermo del Toro, who is currently residing in Wellington preparing to film The Hobbit.
4. Cast Away (2000)
Being stuck on your own on a desert island for four years isn’t quite the same as being quarantined in your apartment/ townhouse/ suburban home for seven days. If you want to see someone that has it worse than you, or just have some one-on-one company, then there’s Tom Hanks playing an on-the-go FedEx manager whose life comes to a standstill after a plane crash.
3. 28 Days Later (2002)
More rampant disease-induced zombie-ism - this time set in London. A virus causing murderous rage spreads through the population after animal rights activists free some infected chimpanzees from a top secret lab. Directed by Danny Boyle, who also helmed Slumdog Millionaire and Trainspotting.
2. Babe (1995)
A little piglet doesn’t quite know his place in the world but, with some help, finds success. Take home message: even if you do have swine flu, you’ll probably be okay.
1. Alien (1979)
"In space no one can hear you scream," is the tagline of this 1979 trapped-in-the-middle-of-nowhere-with-a-maniac-on-the-loose classic. If you want to look at it one way, it’s pretty much what will happen if humans manage to banish swine flu into space only to have it mutate and return as a lethal three-metre-tall, acid-blooded xenomorph.

Australia warn for high Swine flu risk

Australia on Tuesday warned Aborigines may be at high risk from swine flu and rushed medical supplies to remote indigenous communities, as the country announced its second death linked to the virus.
Health Minister Nicola Roxon said high disease rates among Aborigines, who suffer the country's worst poverty and ill health, could make them particularly vulnerable.
"We know many of the chronic diseases that they suffer from are indicators that swine flu may actually hit them harder than some others in the community," she told public radio.
A 26-year-old Aboriginal man with swine flu and other medical problems died in Adelaide on Friday, setting alarm bells ringing about the virus's possible impact on the indigenous community.
On Tuesday, officials said a non-Aboriginal man, 35, who had swine flu and "significant underlying medical problems" had died in Victoria of apparent respiratory failure at the weekend.
Despite the country's second swine flu-related death, Victoria's acting chief health officer Rosemary Lester said the virus, which has infected 2,733 people here, was not considered life-threatening in most cases.
"It is important to remember that in the vast majority of cases, human swine flu is a mild illness which many people recover from without any medical treatment," she said.
However, Health Minister Roxon said Aborigines may be a special case and authorities were working to boost their supplies of anti-viral drugs in the wake of the indigenous man's death.
An emergency medical response team was due to arrive in the dead Aboriginal man's isolated home settlement of Kiwirrkurra in Western Australia carrying anti-flu medicine, face masks and cleaning products to contain any infection.
Meanwhile in the Northern Territory, where Aborigines make up almost a third of the population, authorities said swine flu appeared to have gained a foothold in remote indigenous communities.
The number of confirmed cases in the Territory approximately doubled in the past week to 61, with three children hospitalised in Alice Springs.
Territory health minister Kon Vatskalis said the government was closely monitoring the situation in Outback settlements and town camps, the ghettos on the outskirts of urban areas where many Aborigines live.
"Anti-viral medications and personal protective equipment have been distributed to all remote health centres and general practices," he said.
"In remote communities where the infection has arrived or seems imminent, immediate testing and treatment is being offered to those people with influenza symptoms and established risk factors."
Australia's 520,000 Aborigines make up about 2.5 percent of the population, but have a life expectancy 17 years shorter than the national average. They also have higher rates of imprisonment, child mortality and alcoholism.
The rapid spread of the virus in Australia helped persuade the World Health Organization to declare the first global pandemic in 40 years this month.
Australia last week changed its swine flu alert level to "protect," meaning only the most vulnerable receive anti-viral treatments such as Tamiflu while those with mild symptoms must rely on over-the-counter medicines.

Swine flu capture 8 yr boy

A suspected case of Swine flu that was reported here on June 20 has been found to be positive as per the results of throat swab test and culture medicum test carried out at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) in New Delhi. The boy was quarantined and was being treated at the Government Rajaji Hospital here in A1 air-conditioned ward.The family with their eight-year-old son from New Jersey, US, was visiting India. On reaching Mumbai airport it was learnt that the boy had fever and on suspicion he was taken to a nearby private hospital for diagnosis.The family later decided to have further diagnosis at their hometown in Madurai. In Madurai, the boy was taken to a private hospital and was referred to the Government Rajaji Hospital for diagnosis. At Government Rajaji Hospital, the samples of the boy’s blood and urine were collected and sent to NICD for test.S M Shivakumar, Dean (in-charge) of Government Rajaji Hospital, said that the boy was normal without cough and fever. As the results came at night on Wednesday, tamiflu (drug to fight H1N1) was not administered and the medication would be administered during the day on Thursday.Another throat swab test would be taken on the third day after administering tamiflu to the boy.The boy was visiting India to spend time with his grandparents for three weeks and was expected to leave India in two weeks time. Though the results of the tests were out, the official announcement from the Centre might come on Thursday, he said.

Swine flu cases in uk reach 3000

Another 149 cases of swine flu have been confirmed in the UK, bringing the total to more than 2,900.

More than 100 patients under observation in England were confirmed with the virus on Tuesday, along with another 40 cases in Scotland.
The number of confirmed cases in the UK is 2,944, including 686 in Scotland.
The Health Protection Agency said a baby from County Durham has tested positive for swine flu at a hospital on Teesside and is in a stable condition.
About 30,000 cases of swine flu have so far been detected in 74 countries, and more than 140 people have died worldwide since March.
First fatality
A Department of Health spokesman said: "The cases of swine flu found in the UK have so far been generally mild in most people, but are proving to be severe in a small minority of cases.
"We are continuing to work to slow the spread of the disease and to put in place arrangements to ensure that the UK is well-placed to deal with this new infection."
The swine flu virus claimed its first victim in the UK last week, after a female patient died in a Scottish hospital.
The victim was a woman aged 38 who gave birth prematurely while being treated at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley.
The baby with swine flu is aged less than a year and has been admitted to North Tees Hospital, in Stockton, and given anti-viral drugs.
As a precautionary measure, family members and staff who were in close contact with the baby have also been offered the Tamiflu drug.

No summer camp couse of swine flu

Thousands of Jerry's Kids won't be going to summer camp this year because of the swine flu.
The Tucson-based Muscular Dystrophy Association says it is canceling the remainder of its summer camps immediately because swine flu has been reported in camps.
The MDA says children with muscular dystrophy are particularly at risk from the flu, although none of the children sickened after camps in recent weeks have died. About 1,800 children have gone to camp this year, but another 2,500 set to go in 35 states will be affected by the cancelations.
MDA spokesman Bob Mackle said Tuesday that nine children and three adults were confirmed to have swine flu after attending three MDA camps in May or early June.