Confused residents rush to rule out swine flu

Dr Nirmal Bagati of Navi Mumbai had a harrowing time on Tuesday after she set out to find a hospital that could screen and rule out swine flu.

Her visit to MGM Hospital in Vashi and another private hospital proved futile because no one had any clue about swine flu or its treatment facilities.

After searching the internet, Bagati found out that Kasturba Hospital at Chinchpokli was the only authorised centre to screen and test swine flu. “It took us the entire day to find out the information and then about 2 hours to reach the centre,” she said. On reaching the hospital at 6pm, she discovered that there were several people waiting to be screened. Bagati had returned from the US last week and wanted to rule out Influenza H1N1 though she did not have any of the symptoms.

But, like many other parents at the hospital, she was concerned about her son Anmol who had symptoms of seasonal flu. “He had been to the US in May but I was worried after I read about the death in Pune because of a delayed diagnosis,” she said.

A 68-year-old doctor from Mulund went to Bombay Hospital to get his grandchild screened after he returned from Pune on Monday evening. “One of my friends later told me that Kasturba Hospital had some facility,” the doctor said. Like Bagati, he too said that the city ought to have few more centres. “What if we have more cases like Pune? The virus will spread all the more if one has to travel so much,” he said.

But authorities ruled out more centres. “Though today there was a rush at Kasturba, the doctors were not overburdened,” Dr Pradeep Awate, the in-charge of state’s swine flu cell, said. “If necessary, we can set up a second centre at JJ Hospital within a day. But we do not have any such plans right now.” Maharashtra has been the worst hit with 157 positive cases, of which 24 are from Mumbai.

BMC at last seems to have woken up to the threat of swine flu. Dr Jairaj Thanekar, the executive health officer, said they had sent letters to all private school principals in the city. “We have asked them to be alert and report if they come across any case,” he said.

Anticipating that there could be a further rise in the number of suspected cases in Kasturba, the corporation is planning to increase the number of beds. Ward 30, which is the designated one for swine flu patients, has 20 beds. “We are geared to increase the bed strength to 50,” Thanekar said.