Eight more test positive for flu

18th of Aug 09
Eight more swine flu cases were detected on Monday, taking the number of people in the city infected with the H1N1 virus to 46. Among the latest victims was 10-year-old Sneha Ganguly, daughter of Snehashis Ganguly and niece of former Team India skipper Sourav Ganguly. Sneha, a student of La Martiniere for Girls, was admitted to MR Bangur Hospital where her condition was stated to be stable. Another child — five-year-old Priyanka Ghosh — tested positive during the day and was admitted to the same hospital. Health officials were in for a shock when they tried to contact Ganesh Mallick, one of the eight who tested positive. “The address and phone number he had provided were incorrect,” said an official. Following repeated announcements on television, Mallick got in touch with the health department from his house in Krishnagar, Nadia. Officials said he would be admitted to Infectious Diseases Hospital, in Beleghata. Akash Chowdhury, a two-and-a-half-year-old swine flu victim who was admitted to RG Kar Medical College and Hospital a few days ago, is on ventilator. Doctors said the child could not be shifted to the Beleghata hospital till his condition improved. Dharti Ben Naumit Lal Parmar, a 23-year-old woman from Ahmedabad, was admitted to the Beleghata hospital with swine flu symptoms on Tuesday morning after she arrived in the city from Bangkok. Prominent city schools said they were taking all possible steps to prevent the spread of swine flu. A spokesperson for La Martiniere for Girls said: “We have no confirmation about whether the student (Sneha Ganguly) has swine flu but we are taking all precautions as suggested by doctors. We cannot be irresponsible with the lives of so many children.” Several schools such as La Martiniere for Boys, South Point and St James have issued circulars asking parents to not send children suffering from fever and cold to class till doctors certify them fit. A teacher of St Xavier’s Collegiate School said: “We are not panicking but taking all necessary measures to prevent the spread of the disease.”