Jalandhar (Punjab), June 17 (IANS) Seven students admitted at a hospital in this Punjab city have tested negative for the influenza A (H1N1) virus, health officials said Wednesday.
The medical reports were received from the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) New Delhi Wednesday evening, the officials added.
The seven students were among the 15 who were quarantined with swine flu symptoms after returning from an educational tour of the US.
“We have got the reports of seven students from Delhi and all of them have tested negative. They would soon be discharged after proper medication,” S.S. Walia, a surgeon at the civil hospital, told IANS Wednesday evening.
Nine school children were admitted in the civil hospital here Sunday while five were admitted Tuesday and one was admitted Wednesday.
Talking about the condition of students who tested positive, Walia said: “We are happy that all of them are recovering well. We have all the medicines and equipment to tackle this.”
The students were part of a group of 31 students and three teachers of the Guru Amar Das Public School that went to New York and Florida on an educational trip to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Of the students admitted Sunday, seven have tested positive for influenza A (H1N1) virus.
Roop Lal, Jalandhar district health officer, told IANS: “One more student with swine flu symptoms has been admitted Wednesday. His blood samples have been sent to the NICD in New Delhi for tests. The report will come by tomorrow (Thursday).”
He added that a list of around 200 people who came in contact with the infected students before they were hospitalised has been prepared and the health authorities were trying to contact them to check their condition.
The group of students and teachers had returned from the US to New Delhi Saturday aboard a Qatar Airlines flight via Doha.
One of them, a Class 12 student, tested positive for the swine flu virus in New Delhi. He was admitted to a Delhi hospital Saturday immediately after landing at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA).
The rest of the group travelled to Jalandhar by road. This is probably the first instance in India of a group of individuals catching the infection.
A traveller from Birmingham who had landed at the Amritsar airport Monday with swine flu symptoms has tested negative and was discharged from the hospital.
Punjab Health Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla said: “There is no need to panic as the situation is well under our control. Our medical staff is working all day and night to treat the patients who tested positive in Jalandhar. We have enough medicines and work force to tackle this problem.”
“All the civil surgeons of the state are on high alert and helplines have been established at all the district headquarters,” Chawla said.
She said that special medical teams are stationed at the Amritsar international airport and at the Attari and Wagah checkpoints on the border with Pakistan.