Hyderabad, May 04: Even as the suspected patient from San Francisco tested negative for swine flu, two more suspected cases have been reported. While one arrived at the Shamshabad airport from Germany this morning with symptoms of the H1N1 infection, another person, who came here a week ago, was admitted to the hospital late in the evening.
The man from Germany alighted the flight around 2 a.m. The team of doctors, screening passengers coming from affected countries, detected symptoms of swine flu in him. He was immediately rushed to the Government Chest Hospital, where he has been kept in an isolation room.
Doctors at the hospital sent samples of his throat swabs to the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) in Delhi after quarantining him.
‘‘The swabs have been despatched to New Delhi through an attendant by a flight this afternoon. We expect test results by tomorrow,’’ said Dr K Subhakar, the pulmonologist leading the 20-member medical team at the Chest hospital. As for the other person, officials said he came from Canada a week ago. He was fine then but in the last few days, he developed high fever and cough.
Alarmed by reports in the media about the swine flu, he voluntarily went to the Chest Hospital, where the doctors immediately put him in an intensive care unit in the isolation rooms. Samples of his throat swabs have been sent to the NICD in Delhi for examination.
Meanwhile, the doctors discharged the suspected patient from San Francisco after the NICD confirmed that he tested negative for the infection. ‘‘He is healthy and has been discharged,’’ Dr Subhakar said. The NRI was quarantined on Saturday for showing symptoms of the flu.
The authorities made special arrangements at the Chest Hospital for suspected swine flu patients. Besides four isolation rooms, a six-bed intensive care unit has also been set up. The Centre has supplied 10,000 tablets of Tamiflu and personal protection equipment kits to the State. They will be distributed upon receipt of further orders.
–Agencies