Pune: The incident of a teenager dying from swine flu - first death in India - has triggered panic among parents of school kids in Pune. After reading the reports about the death of 14-year old student of St. Anne's High School on Tuesday, parents are making a beeline for the Naidu Hospital, a government declared swine flu testing centre, to get their kids examined for the H1N1 virus. "We should go to the Naidu Hospital and get entire check up. They have made only one centre for checking, because of which we face problems," said Madhukar Mahadev, a grandparent of a school going kid. The death has cast a shadow of fear amongst the people and they are leaving no stones unturned to assure the safety of their ward. The parents of kids having symptoms like cough, cold and fever, are taking them for testing as a precautionary measure. "One such case has occurred so even if there is slight cold or fever, then everybody will bring their children here," said Ashwini Khandave, a parent. Following the death of its student, the authorities have shut down the St. Anne's High School for two days, during which, the school is being fumigated and sanitised. Though shaken by the death, the school authorities say they have been constantly advising their students and the parents to exercise caution. "For past 15 to 20 days, we have been informing the parents and children that if there is even slight cold and cough then they should go and get themselves checked. And if such a student has come to school then we have sent him/her back," said Linette Wilson, a senior teacher of the St. Anne's High School.

Maharashtra Govt invokes Epidemic Act to contain swine flu

     Mumbai: A day after 14-year old Pune school girl died of the deadly swine flu, Maharashtra Government on Tuesday invoked the Epidemic Act in Pune and Satara districts to check the spread of swine flu. "The Act has been invoked to prevent spread of this air-borne A (H1N1) virus in the two districts (Pune and Panchgani) where 127 cases have been reported," said Dr Pradeep Awate, senior official in Maharashtra Health Directorate. So far, 150 cases of swine flu have been reported in entire Maharashtra since April when the epidemic broke out in Mexico and US. "We are asking all the patients to get admitted in government hospitals and people should not go to private hospitals. Also, the private hospitals should not take any suspected patients as they do not have any right to do tests unless they take permission from the government," Awate said. If the private hospitals do not follow this mandatory steps, severe action will be taken against them, he added. Incidentally, Jahangir is the first private hospital that treated a swine flu case outside the three civic hospitals that have become the main referral centres during the last month in Pune. Reedal Shaikh, a class IX student of St Anne's High School in Pune, died at the Jahangir Hospital on Tuesday.
-August 5, 2009