This is what we are doing to fight the flu. But is it enough?

DNA correspondents provide accounts of what happens at airports and swine flu virus screening centres across the country. Andhra Pradesh leads the tally with most cases

Hyderabad
At the airport
Once a passenger gets off the aircraft he/she is given a declaration form. “The flier has to say whether he has visited any of the affected countries in the past 10 days,” said Dr KN Reddy, who is coordinating screening facilities at the Rajiv Gandhi International airport in Hyderabad. In case the flier has been to the listed places, he’s checked more thoroughly. Otherwise, all passengers are scanned for fever, cold, sore throat. Their temperature is recorded using a gadget that does it in 15 seconds.

In case the passenger shows symptoms, he is turned over to health authorities for testing and treatment. The airport’s six flu counters are manned by 10 doctors. Since 17 international flights dock there everyday, doctors end up checking 2,700 passengers.

The declaration by passengers proves critical in case one of them is found to be a flu carrier. Health authorities contact medical teams at the airport to trace others travelling with the infected person. “We look for people seated three rows ahead of and three rows behind the infected flier and locate the two seated next to him. For every infected flier, we screen 20 more,” said Dr Reddy.

Though screening is thorough, medical teams feel passengers get restless if they have to stand in queue for hours. “Sometimes four aircraft land at a time and all 10 counters get crowded. If airlines could provide the declaration forms on board, the passengers would keep them ready by the time they get down,” Dr Reddy said.

After screening
In case a passenger is found to be showing symptoms, he is taken to the nodal centre for H1N1 where throat and nasal swabs as well as blood samples are taken. These are sent to the National Institute of Communicable Diseases, Delhi and the National Institute of Virology, Pune. It takes 24 hours for results to come till when suspects are quarantined.

If samples test positive patients are kept in isolation for a six-day course of treatment. For those quarantined, samples are collected every alternate day and the patient is discharged once tests show  negative.

There are 15 teams to trace co-passengers of the infected person and give them precautionary medical support. However, further testing is compulsory for all co-passengers. In most cases, they too are kept in isolation wards till central labs give an all-clear.

Tamil Nadu
Being one of the first states to confirm two positive cases, the Tamil Nadu government and the department of public health and preventive medicine have put the state on a high alert. Though both the patients — Serin, 34, and her five-year-old son — have since been discharged after treatment at the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital, the state has kept a helpline (044-24321569) working around the clock.

All medical practitioners have been instructed to compulsorily report to local health authorities if they detect any person with symptoms of swine flu. Isolation is now compulsory for suspects of swine flu and we have identified the Infectious Diseases Hospital at Tondiarpet in Chennai as the nodal agency to deal with the infection.

Orissa
There are cases of swine flu reported in the state. However, after the outbreak of the disease in Andhra Pradesh, high alert has been issued in all the bordering districts. State health minister Prasanna Acharya said the state government had constituted four teams.

“While three teams have been deployed at three medical colleges in Cuttack, Berhampur and Sambalpur, the fourth has been deployed at the state headquarters,” Acharya said. Tamiflu tablets, personal protective equipment and masks have been stocked.

State government sources said they were unable to set up a checkpoint at the Biju Patnaik Airport because the civil aviation officials did not cooperate. The airport officials argued there was no need to frisk passengers because no international flights come to Bhubanseswar. “Foreign tourists are being frisked at international airports and there is no need check them at this point,” Sanjay Jain, the airport director, said.
Pune

A team of health department officials, led by four doctors, are screening each of the passengers arriving at the Pune airport by international flights. “The screening of the passengers arriving has started ever since cases of H1N1 were detected in the country. But so far no case has been tested positive at the Pune airport,” said airport director Capt SK Mahajan. According to Mahajan, once the passengers from the two international flights alight, they are screened.

Bangalore
The Port Health Services, a central government agency headed by Dr Anbazhagan, regional director of Union ministry of health and family welfare, is looking after the swine flu screening and caring facilities at the Bangalore International Airport.

The agency has set up seven counters to screen passengers at the airport, especially those from South America, Hong Kong and Malaysia where swine flu has been an epidemic. The directorate general of civil aviation sent out a circular on April 29 to the airport operating agencies — airlines, immigrations, airports authority, private operators — on swine flu directing the immigrations officer to maintain a document of questionnaire filled by the passenger for screening and the proforma be distributed by the airline crew on flight.

Kolkata
Teams of doctors, nurses and health inspectors have been stationed at national and international airports in Kolkata. Similar teams are deputed at the ports of Kolkata Dock System and Haldia Dock Complex to monitor the shippers. According to department official N Som, the health officials are stationed at various screening counters to monitor the passengers arriving there.

In case any passenger is detected with symptoms of swine flu, they will be immediately isolated and sent to the quarantine rooms. Later, they will be shifted to a hospital at Beliaghata in Kolkata and the throat swab of the suspect will be sent to the National Institute of Communicable Diseases, New Delhi.

So far the health team has screened about 19,000 passengers and around 300 air crews. The total number of shippers screened at the two ports is around 2,500.

Gujarat
So far, no cases of swine flu have been detected at the Ahmedabad airport. Passengers coming from abroad and other Indian cities are being tested. However, airport officials said they did not have required infrastructure to detect the virus. “We don’t have the equipment needed to detect the virus in passengers,” said an airport official.

Kashmir
The J&K government has sounded a high alert following the swine flu scare across the country. In fact, the state was the first in the country to sound an alert because Kashmir is a tourist destination and international flights operate from Srinagar. “We have kept a temporary ward at the airport which will act as quarantine ward for the travellers with symptoms of H1N1. We have kept three isolation wards at the SMHS Hospital, the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences and the JLNM Hospital,” said Dr Muzaffar Shawl, director of health department.