Mangalore: Possible Swine Flu Patient quarantined in Private Hospital
Daijiworld Media Network—Mangalore (RS/CN)
Mangalore, Jun 9: A man who recently returned from Egypt has been quarantined in a private hospital in the city on Tuesday June 9, after he displayed symptoms of swine flu.
Thirty-five-year old Vishwanath has been living in Karkala since he returned to India last month.
Though his symptoms are similar to that in swine flu, his illness has not yet been confirmed by blood tests as the report is yet to reach his doctors.
On Sunday Vishwanath consulted a doctor in a private hospital in Karkala, citing fever, cough, and tiredness. But the doctor seeing that his symptoms varied from that of other patients sent a blood sample to the virology department in Bangalore.
Later, he was shifted to a private hospital in the city and quarantined.
The doctors will keep the patient isolated till they get the results of the blood test and act accordingly afterwards.
H Jagannath, district health officer, said, “The patient has only shown the symptoms. We are awaiting the report from Bangalore. For the time being, it cannot be confirmed as swine flu.”
If it turns out to be indeed the dreaded swine flu, this will be first reported case of the illness in the state.
What is perhaps worse is that Vishwanath has passed through two airports—Mumbai and Mangalore—with no alarm being raised on his being a possible carrier of the virus.