Times of India
10 September 2009
Pune, India

PMC Pulled Up, Team Finds Suspected Flu Cases In School
The state health department was taken by surprise on Wednesday when it learned about a standard XII girl student of a semi–residential school in Lonavla testing positive for the H1N1 influenza way back on September 3. In this case, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) had failed to inform the health department about the case.

The health department, which learned about the case through their own sources, immediately rushed a team to the school and found that 25 students had flu–like symptoms. The swabs of some of these students were sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune for testing and they have been put on Tamiflu, deputy health director Uddhav Gawande said.

A total of 35 students remained absent from school on Wednesday, Gawande said.

The PMC health officials, who received a rap on their knuckles from the health department, have been given instructions to be careful in future and prepare a daily report of H1N1 positive students being admitted to hospitals.

“The student who tested positive is from the Don Bosco school and junior college. She was admitted to the ICU of the KEM hospital in Pune on September 4. Her condition is stable,” he said.

According to Gawande, the student was referred to the Naidu hospital here on September 2 and she tested positive on September 3. “The girl was taken home by her parents the same day. However, she was referred to the KEM hospital on September 4.”

Gawande said the girl visited a private medical practitioner in Lonavla on August 18. “She again visited the medical practitioner on August 22 with cough and fever. As she did not recover, she was referred to the Naidu hospital,” he said. Gawande said the KEM hospital communicated to the PMC health officials that a student was quarantined. “However, the PMC officials failed to inform us about the new case from a school. The state health department came to know about it on its own only on Wednesday.”

Meanwhile, Gawande said there has been an increase in the number of children testing positive for the H1N1 flu. The Lonavla school is the seventh in Pune district that has reported an H1N1 positive case after schools reopened recently. Earlier, the B K Birla Centre for Education at Talegaon Dabhade, Savargaon primary school at Savargaon in Junnar taluka, Maharshi Vidya Mandir at Kalewadi in the PCMC area, New Poona School at Ambegaon Pathar near Katraj, Narvir Tanaji Vidya Mandir at Wakdewadi and the Abhinav high school on Karve road reported cases of students testing positive for the H1N1 flu.