India changes swine flu rules after first death

India’s health ministry is to issue new swine flu guidelines after the country reported its first death due to the virus today.

A 14-year-old girl from Pune was India’s first victim of the H1N1 virus. She reportedly died due to delays in being tested for the infection and being given Tamiflu.

Reports indicate that she was admitted to a private hospital and not a stipulated government isolation ward meant for confirmed swine flu patients or suspected cases.

Health minister Gulam Nabi Azad said today the ministry would issue new guidelines to private hospitals on handling patients.

The guidelines will allow certain private hospitals to collect swabs from suspected swine flu patients for tests.

Mr Azad said: “No private or government hospital has a laboratory where the sample of the virus can be tested. There are 18 laboratories in the country where the tests can be done.

“But we will now issue guidelines which will designate some private hospitals across the country to take samples of suspected patients and then send it to the laboratories to be tested.”

The minister added that the target was to give test results within 24 hours so patients can be treated at home or in hospital.

The new guidelines will say that it is not necessary to compulsorily isolate a person unless he tests positive for H1N1, Mr Azad said.

He also confirmed that the teenager who died was initially treated for normal flu at home and later admitted to a private hospital where they did not suspect swine flu for the first two days.

“When her condition deteriorated and the lungs were affected then they (hospital officials) realised it was not normal because flu does not affect the lungs,” Mr Azad said.

“But by that time it was too late for the Tamiflu medication.”

The ministry is, however, concerned that the virus may have infected other students in the girl’s school. The girl, who has not been named, reportedly attended school until July 23 despite showing symptoms two days earlier.

The school remains closed today as a mark of condolence for her death.

Yesterday, seven more people tested positive for the virus which takes the total number of cases in the country to 558. However, 470 of these have been discharged after treatment.

Across the world, the death toll has reached more than 800 people.