Five swine flu suspects sent home with medicine

Five swine flu suspects sent home with medicine
Preetu Nair

Panaji:Five persons suspected to be suffering with swine flu were sent home by doctors on Friday with Tamiflu tablets as there was no place for them at the isolation ward of Chicalim's cottage hospital.

Four of those sent back are relatives of the 31 year old seafarer who remains quarantined in the isolation ward of Chicalim cottage hospital, while the other is a 30 year old man from Ponda who arrived from Germany. The seafarer's wife has been quarantined in the female isolation ward of Chicalim.

When contacted, state epidemiologist Dr Rajendra Tamba said, “On Friday we got 6 suspected cases of swine flu. We have sent their throat swab samples for blood test and taken necessary precautions.” The blood samples of the suspected patients have been sent to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), New Delhi.

Sources in the health department said that with number of swine flu cases on a high, the directorate of health services plans to soon vacate the 70-bedded cottage hospital and make it into a quarantine facility.

The patients were sent back, despite the ministry of health and family welfare in a letter to the state government dated April 28 , 2009 stating :'Any suspected cluster of influenza like illness needs to be investigated by the state rapid response teams and managed in an isolation facilities with strict infection control practises."

Sources revealed there are two isolation wards, with three beds each at the Chicalim hospital. While in the female ward, the 31 year old seafarer's wife has been quarantined, sources said that there were not enough beds to keep the five male patients suspected to have swine flu. Besides, doctors at the Chicalim were hesitant to quarantine a suspected patient along with a confirmed patient.

Sources said that with the number of swine flu cases on a high, the health department plans to vacate the cottage hospital and turn it into a quarantine facility.

Indian government guidelines state that there have to be dedicated doctors, nurses and paramedical workers for swine flu patients. In Goa, there are currently only a doctor and a nurse at the Chicalim hospital taking care of the all patients, including those with swine flu.

Health officials are looking out for people who have come in contact with the seafarer."He us a highly infectious patient. Five of his relatives who came in contact with him are suspected of swine flu. When he went to Goa Medical College's casualty, he was there for almost an hour, coughing. Instead of taking his swab samples in Goa Medical College , the patient was sent to Chicalim by bus," said sources.

July 11,2009, The Times of India, Goa edition, FP