The Union Health Ministry on Monday rushed a rapid response team to Jalandhar after seven more students tested positive for H1N1 virus on Monday,taking the total number of cases to 30. While we received nine samples on Sunday night,seven have already tested positive for H1N1 virus. The results of the remaining two are under process, said a senior official in the ministry. The Government on Monday asked people,particularly students,to defer foreign visits till the swine flu pandemic was controlled globally. Till this disease is controlled globally,I would like to request young people,from educational institutions going abroad,that they can suspend their visits for the time being, Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters. They can go after two-three months. Expressing his concern over the spread of flu in a group of children in Jalandhar,Azad has asked the Director General of Health Services (DGHS) to ensure an adequate supply of tamiflu to help contain the spread of the disease even at district-level. The students are from Guru Amar Dass Public School of Jalandhar,and had gone on an educational trip to NASA. While a 17-year-old boy was the first to be quarantined at Delhi Airport on Saturday night,tracking of other accompanying students started after he tested positive on Sunday. After the state health officials were told to track them,nine of them were found to be showing flu-like symptoms, said an official. The students have been isolated at Civil Hospital,Jalandhar,and are under treatment. A team,including physicians and public health officials,which reached Jalandhar on Monday is tracking the family members and social contacts of the students. Those sitting in proximity to them in the flight have been identified and put on chemoprophylaxis, an official said. As many as 196 persons were identified who had come into contact of these children. The team is expected to bring more samples. Students of Apeejay School in Jalandhar who returned from a NASA trip on June 6 were also examined by the civil hospital doctors on Monday. A team of DPS schoolchildren is returning from the USA on Tuesday. Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner A S Pannu said they would also be tested. Reiterating that there is no cause for panic as the disease is curable,Azad asked all the Chief Ministers to gear up the state health machinery to tackle the possible spread of virus. The fact that 11 patients have been treated and discharged out of 23 positive cases is evidence to the fact that the disease can be controlled through medication, he said. While a suspected case of flu was detected in Kolkata,Himachal Pradesh also recorded a suspected H1N1 case. Both have been put under surveillance. (With inputs from Anju Agnihotri Chaba)
