The Hindu : New Delhi News : Swine flu-affected students recover

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 30, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

New Delhi

New Delhi

Swine flu-affected students recover

Siddhesh Inamdar

All of them were quarantined in the school’s hospital

— Photo: Vivek Bendre

Local students in Panchgani, Maharashtra, take precautionary measures after some students of a school here tested positive for A(H1N1) influenza.

PANCHGANI: This hill station near Mahabaleshwar, whose peace has been disturbed by the H1N1 virus, now has some reason to cheer.

According to Satara’s District Health Officer, Vijaysinh Mohite, all the students from Panchgani who tested positive for the swine flu virus have been discharged after recovery.

“All students were from St. Peter’s School,” Mr. Mohite said. “They were suspected to have swine flu on July 23, and their throat swabs were sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV). They were quarantined in the school’s hospital that day itself and were put on medication. The reports came on July 27, confirming the flu. But since they were already on medication, they have recovered quickly.”

Swine flu patients are given a five-day course of Osiltamavir (whose trade names are Tamiflu, Fluvir, etc.), which usually cures them in a week.

Mr. Mohite clarified that the number of students who had tested positive was 10 and not 17 as reported by the media. “Seventeen had the Influenza A virus. Out of them, 10 had the Influenza A(H1N1) virus.”

He clarified that the students were not the ones who had visited the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the U.S.

“Some students from St. Peter’s had visited NASA in April. The swine flu virus has an incubation period of one week. If the students coming from NASA had carried the virus, it would have manifested itself a long time back,” he said.

Meanwhile, three new students from St. Peter’s School have shown symptoms of swine flu, along with 11 from Anjuman Islam, two from Sanjeewan Vidyalaya, and one from Ganesh Shikshan Mandir, Mr. Mohite said. They have been kept in the isolation wards of their schools.

Dr. Yogesh Gurav from the NIV was here on Wednesday to collect throat swabs from the suspected cases. “Their reports will be ready in 72 hours,” he told The Hindu.

Additionally, a team of eight doctors will be operating from a control room at St. Peter’s, said Mr. Mohite. Over a week, it will coordinate with the 46 schools in the hill station to assist in detection.

To contain the damage, St. Peter’s School has decided not to let its 304 boarders, out of its total 350 students, leave the premises. The 46 day scholars will not be allowed inside the school for a week. The three other schools with suspects have not taken similar measures yet.

Unofficial sources, however, said that four schools — New Era, Vidyaniketan, Kimmins, and St. Joseph’s — have decided to follow St. Peter’s example, though they have not had any suspects yet. Happy Hours has reportedly decided to shut down for a week.

The administration, however, is not in favour of such a decision. “Most of the schools in Panchgani are boarding schools. If they shut down, the students will go back home to different cities. If the students are carriers, the virus will spread,” Mr. Mohite said.

The administration’s logic, however, has not gone down well with worried parents.

A parent from Mumbai, whose son is at St. Peter’s, said, “My son hasn’t shown any symptoms yet but I want to take him back home. The administration cannot prevent me. If something happens to him, will the school be responsible?”

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

New Delhi