H1N1 flu: 2 passengers shifted to Govt Taluk Hospital

Two persons who arrived here on Monday from abroad with H1N1 flu like symptoms were examined by medical experts and shifted to the Government Taluk Hospital at Perumbavoor for observation.

Director of Health services Dr K Shylaja said that their throat swabs would be taken on Tuesday for viral culture which would be then be sent to the National Institute of Communicable Diseases, New Delhi.

"The two passengers have got flu like symptoms. But there is no need to panic," she said, adding that they had been quarantined as a precautionary measure as they had come from UK and Austria.

A 11-year-old boy and a 27-year-old woman passenger were taken to the isolation ward soon after their arrival at Nedumbassery airport early on Monday by separate flights. Both are Keralites.

The boy, hailing from Muvattupuzha in Ernakulam district, had gone to Austria to visit his parents, while the woman had gone to London for attending a conference.