Indian SARS sufferer allowed to leave hospital before virus was confirmed
A 32-year-old Indian man in the western state of Goa was in isolation in hospital after test results confirmed he had the disease, officials said.
“We have received a sample from Goa and we have diagnosed it positive for the coronavirus which is responsible for SARS,” said Dr AC Mishra, director of the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in the western city of Pune.
The man arrived in the western city of Bombay on April 1 after travelling in Singapore and Hong Kong, which have both been hit hard by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), before going home to Goa.
He was not admitted to hospital until April 10 and was released two days later when he responded to treatment, officials said.
It was only on Wednesday evening that results of tests on his samples carried out at the NIV showed he had SARS and he was put back into isolation.
Officials admitted it had been a mistake to let him leave hospital before the test results were known.
“It was a blunder to discharge the man before the test results came through,” said a senior health official in New Delhi, who did not want to be identified.
He said health officials were concerned about the possibility the man could have spread the infection before he was diagnosed.
Health Minister Sushma Swaraj told reporters that the patient was in Bombay for at least two days and met a number of people.
“All steps are being taken to prevent the spread of the disease,” she said.
“We have kept him and his family in isolation. We will try and quarantine all those who came in contact with him during the period.”
An official at Goa Medical College, where the man is being treated, named him as Prashant Vardhe and said he was “out of danger”. Local media said he was a marine engineer.
Dr Shiv Lal, a director in the directorate general of health services in New Delhi, said the man had seen a doctor in Goa for a cough and fever.
“He was admitted to the isolation ward of Goa Medical College on April 10,” he said.
“He responded to antibiotic treatment, became asymptomatic and was discharged on April 12,” when his chest x-ray was normal, Dr Lal said.
He said the man had arrived in Hong Kong on March 26 and was there for four days before sailing to Singapore on March 30.
He flew to Bombay on April 1 and stayed there for about three days, arriving in Goa on April 3 or 4.
India has a billion-plus population, second only to China with 1.2 billion, and limited resources to deal with any outbreak of the deadly SARS virus.
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