8 more children test positive for swine flu in Mumbai

Sixteen people, including eight children and a pregnant woman, tested positive for swine flu in the city on Wednesday. Four of them were admitted to hospitals, and the remaining 12 were quarantined at home.

The first seven days of July have seen 104 people test positive for swine flu. The whole of June had seen 100 falling prey to the disease. Health authorities are particularly worried as 37 of the 104 are minors.

“The virus is present in the air, and the children are bound to get affected because of their low resistance,” Daksha Shah, head of the epidemiology cell of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), said. The health workers are visiting residential areas and identifying symptoms of swine flu and the usual monsoon-related diseases as well, she added.

All government doctors dealing with H1N1 patients will soon have to sign a form, either consenting or declining to take the injectable swine flu vaccine. The decision was taken at a general review meeting held on Tuesday by Sharvaree Gokhale, additional chief secretary, public health.

“All medical and paramedical staff dealing with swine flu patients will have to sign the form. They can either take the vaccine, or declare that the health authorities should not be held responsible if they contract the disease,” Gokhale said. The forms will be distributed in the next three days.

The health authorities had been mulling over the issue for the past few weeks after the doctors showed very little interest in taking the French-made injectable vaccine. Gokhale said that the vaccines had been procured for the safety of the doctors. “Some 2,400 doctors across the state have taken the vaccine. No toxic side effect of the vaccine has been recorded so far,” she added.

The government procured 34,300 doses of the injectable vaccine, named Panenza, in March. The imported vaccine arrived after the swine flu scare had subsided, and found few takers. Most of the doctors prefer to use the swine flu nasal spray, which they believe has fewer side effects as it is non-invasive.

Gokhale said that the current status of the spread of H1N1, as well as the monsoon-related diseases, was discussed at Tuesday’s meeting. “No new decision was taken. Our strategy remains the same. The swine flu situation is not as frightening as it had been last year,” she said.