One more tests positive for swine flu in Hyderabad

Hyderabad, June 26 (ANI): A foreign national was tested positive for swine flu on Thursday in Hyderabad taking the number of swine flu cases to 17 in Andhra Pradesh.

The fifteen-year-old girl who tested positive for swine flu arrived on June 19 from Hong Kong by Silk Airways. She showed symptoms of swine flu on June 22 and her sample was sent to National Institution of Communicable Diseases (NICD) in Delhi.

After she was found positive for swine flu, nine other passengers who had accompanied her were also quarantined.

"On 22nd the report was sent on the same day. It was tested positive yesterday night from NICD Delhi. So I have isolated the other nine who accompanied her. We have sent the samples to NICD Delhi. This is the first foreign national tested positive in India," said Dr. K Sudhakar, Physician, Government Chest Hospital, Hyderabad.

Out of the 17 cases reported in Andhra Pradesh, 14 have been treated and discharged, while three are still undergoing treatment. Ten other patients presently under observation are awaiting reports.

Another 45-year-old man who had travelled from Doha has also been admitted in the hospital for suspected HINI infection, after the initial screening at Hyderabad airport showed signs of the flu affliction in him.

So far, a total of 60 persons have been found positive for swine flu across India, out of which 32 patients have been treated as inpatients in isolation wards and discharged.

Out of the total 60 patients, 54 came from abroad while six contracted the disease within the country. In all, 413 suspected cases were quarantined.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) elevated the H1N1 strain to pandemic status earlier this month.

The WHO, in an update on the spread of the new flu strain on Saturday (June 20) had observed that the number of worldwide cases had risen to 44,287, with 180 deaths.

Mexico, United States and Canada have borne the brunt of the illness while research work is still on to formulate an effective vaccine to counter the pandemic. (ANI)