Suspected patient flees

Even as the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) battled to keep the H1N1 virus in check in its area, a suspected swine flu patient — a doctor himself — ran away from the special isolation ward of the TMC hospital Friday evening. There is fear that he may now infect others.

Hospital sources said Dr Ganesh Manik Ahire, 24, a resident of Kalyan, approached the Kalyan health services on August 13, saying he may have contracted the H1N1 virus. He was later admitted to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (CSM) Hospital, and kept under observation in the isolation ward.

The following day, when more suspected patients were admitted to the ward, Dr Ahire started demanding that he be shifted to another ward. The same evening, when the other patients were being examined, Dr Ahire gave security guards the slip and ran away. “All the patients had the same symptoms, so there was no need to shift him to another ward,” Dr RT Kendre, chief health officer, TMC, said. “We have alerted health officers in Kalyan to look out for Ahire.”

Meanwhile, 12 suspected patients are currently being treated, while one was discharged as his test results showed negative, Kendre added. Till Saturday, 3,499 patients were checked for H1N1, of which 849 were suspected to be positive. Eventually only 13 cases were admitted to hospital, including the person who was later discharged. The test results of the other patients are awaited.