Health ministry to review guidelines on swine flu

Grappling with the threat of swine flu after the country recorded its first death caused by the virus, the Union health ministry will today hold a high-level meeting to review the guidelines to contain its spread.

The meeting, which will be chaired by health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, will be attended by health secretary Naresh Dayal, secretary, health research, VN Katoch, and director-general of health services (DGHS) RK Srivastva, a source in the ministry said.

The source said Azad had asked the DGHS to prepare a fresh set of guidelines to deal with swine flu across the country.

Yesterday, the country registered its first swine flu death when a 14-year-old schoolgirl from Pune fell victim to the virus, a week after she was admitted to a private hospital with symptoms of the disease.