Swine flu: Health dept on alert

KOLKATA: The state health department continues to be on alert though no new swine flu cases were detected on Friday.

Screening of patients went on with around 15 new samples being sent to the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED). Twelve have so far tested positive for the H1N1 virus of whom one is critical. Five are under treatment at the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Beliaghata while two are admitted in private hospitals. The rest have been released.

Unlike last year, when the health department struggled to accommodate patients at the ID Hospital, two private hospitals have been roped in this time. Woodlands Hospital and Apollo Gleneagles have got a patient each. In 2009, all major private hospitals had been asked to prepare isolation wards after the ID Hospital got filled up. They had been kept ready, but eventually, the ID managed to handle the situation and none was sent to these hospitals. 

  **Details Here.