Zinda Tilismath a panacea for swine flu?

As its name suggests, Zinda Tilismath has cast a spell for decades. From sore throat to dysentery to toothache to common cold, it has always offered a ready remedy. Now in its 90 years of existence, the magic medicine is holding out hope of cure to swine flu patients, claims Syed Zaheeruddin and Owais Farooqui of Karkhana Zinda Tilismath at a press conference here on Thursday.
Its basic ingredient being eucalyptus oil, the Zinda Tilismath has proved effective when administered to swine flu patients at the Sassoon General Hospital, Pune. Encouraged by this positive response, the hospital authorities have planned to carry out clinical trials, they claimed. The reported commendation by former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajashekhara Reddy, on the efficacy of Zinda Tilismath to combat H1N1 virus has come as shot in the arm for the proprietors.
They have now proposed to offer it at concessional price to people attending religious congregations, including the ensuing Haj pilgrimage.
As part of its 90-year celebrations, the company has planned to launch Zinda Balm, throat lozenges and a tooth paste, Mr. Zaheeruddin said.
The Unani medicine launched by Hakeem Moizuddin Farooqui in 1920 is intended to be used both internally and externally. But why the black logo? The person armed with an arrow depicts boundless strength and good health. The ‘arrow’ indicates how the medicine enters the body and kills the germs.
For the Farooky tooth powder the ‘shark’ symbol was chosen since the shark is known for its sharp and strong teeth.

Swin flu, Swin flu in hyderabad, Swin flu news from india, Swinflu, Swinflu news from india, 

source;hindu

Three more die of A(H1N1) in Bangalore

Three more A(HINI)-related deaths were reported in the State on Sunday taking the number of people who have died of the flu to 64.
Those who died on Sunday are a five-year-old boy in Gulbarga, a 60-year-old man in Kolar and a 29-year-old woman in Bangalore.


bangalore news, Swin flu, Swinflu, Swinflu in india, Swinflu news from india, 

WHO warns of swine flu pandemic's second wave

The World Health Organisation is urging the planet to brace for a second wave of the swine flu pandemic as the heavily populated northern
hemisphere edges towards the cooler season when flu thrives.

"The WHO is still mobilised and worried," spokesman Gregory Hartl said as the global health watchdog kept an anxious eye on some "mysterious" patterns of illness associated with the new A (H1N1) virus that appeared in April.

Influenza traditionally surges to its peak during the northern autumn and winter.

WHO Director General Margaret Chan warned on Friday that there had been second and third waves in previous pandemics.

"We cannot say for certain whether the worst is over or the worst is yet to come," Chan said in a videotaped address to a symposium on flu in the Asia-Pacific region.

"We need to be prepared for whatever surprises this capricious new virus delivers next," she added.

Some 1,799 people have died since the A(H1N1) was uncovered in Mexico and the United States nearly six months ago, according to the UN health agency.

By comparison, an estimated 250,000 to 500,000 people die around the world every year from seasonal flu, and overall the symptoms of the new pandemic virus have proved to be mild in the great majority of known cases.

However, it has spread swiftly into 177 countries, proving to be more infectious than seasonal flu and more durable through warmer months.

Through a full season in the southern hemisphere, the pandemic strain gradually became dominant.

WHO monitoring showed that it was now on the decline there, except in South Africa, and in some later affected areas of Argentina, Australia and Chile.

Some 182,000 people worldwide are known to have caught swine flu based on laboratory confirmed cases, but the WHO has long advised countries to give up counting; the true number may in the millions, according to some experts.

It is also striking those in a more physically fragile phase of life, such as pregnant women or the chronically ill, as well as those who are obese and younger age groups than usual.

Many of the most severe cases are among 30 to 50 year -olds.

WHO officials are also mystified at the "most worrying" characteristic of this flu virus, Hartl explained.

About 40 percent of the most severe or fatal cases occur in people who are in perfect health, he said.

However, he was unable to say how many severe cases had occurred, although they are generally regarded as a small proportion of the outbreak so far.

3 more die of swine flu, death toll crosses 50

Three more persons, including one in worst-hit Pune, succumbed to the swine flu on Saturday, pushing the country-wide fatalities from
the HINI pandemic to 51.

A death each occurred in Pune, Tamil Nadu and Goa with four more testing positive for the virus in Assam even as close to 2,600 patients were undergoing treatment across the country.

With a 60-year-old man succumbing to the disease in Pune in Maharashtra, the city recorded its 20th swine flu death.

All educational institutions in Pune, which reported its first fatality on August 3, had been shut for the past one week to prevent the spread of the infection.

The flu claimed its third victim in Tamil Nadu when a 45-year-old man died at the government hospital in Chennai.
The man, whose throat swabs tested positive on August 19, was admitted to the hospital on August 12 with complaints of breathlessness and bleeding piles.

A 67-year-old man, suspected to be suffering from the swine flu, died at a private hospital in Goa, health officials in state capital Panaji said.

Shiva Murthy, who arrived from Bangalore yesterday, was admitted to the hospital with high fever, they said adding he breathed his last this morning.

His throat swabs had been sent for HINI testing to Delhi and the reports were awaited, the officials said.

Courtesy:TOI

Swine flu tests in city by IPM now

In a significant development that would cut down the delays in swine flu diagnosis, city-based Institute of Preventive Medicine (IPM) has received recognition to take up swine flu tests independently from National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD), New Delhi. From now on, there is no need to send samples for testing to NICD.

Health authorities on Wednesday also informed that in due course antiviral drug Oseltamivir will be made available in the open market. Guidelines are being chalked-out to implement and regulate its availability in the retail market.

A few medical outlets would be chosen to retail the Oseltamivir drug.

Five corporate hospitals-Apollo, KIMS, Sharvana, Global and Image Hospitals-will coordinate with the government and treat swine flu patients.

Four more laboratories-Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostic (CDFD), Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Onan Biotech, Kamineni Life Sciences have come forward to take up swine flu testing.

“We expected more private hospitals to join. Yet, we are not disappointed and we hope that in due course more private hospitals will start treating swine flu patients,” Health Secretary L. V. Subramanyam told media persons after attending a meeting with private hospitals on Wednesday. In all, the five new hospitals are providing 26 isolation beds.

Meanwhile, health authorities on Wednesday confirmed two more cases of swine flu, taking the total number to 95 in the State.

Authorities informed that there a possibility of a few more swine flu positive cases already undergoing treatment at one or two private hospitals in city. Authorities will visit private hospitals to identify these patients.

In the meeting with representatives of corporate hospitals, authorities informed that IPM, as of now, will remain the only swine flu testing centre in the State. “Private labs with good infrastructure and willing to take up swine flu testing will coordinate with IPM to obtain NICD recognition. We will request NICD to expedite the process,” Mr. Subramanyam assured. IPM can conduct 40 tests in a day. “IPM can take up 40 tests a day. We are fully prepared and we are open to work with private laboratories if the samples to test are more,” said IPM director P. Sucharitha Murthy.

Swine flu helpline numbers and hospitals

WHO declared the start of the Influenza A(H1N1) pandemic on June 11, 2009. Over 1,000 people across the world have succumbed to the disease including a 14-year-old girl in India.

Here is the list of helpline numbers in India:

All India toll free H1N1 helpline: 1075 or 1800-11-4377

Delhi: Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital: 011-24525211, 23404328, 23365525

Deen Dayal Hospital: 011-2512 5259

Chennai: Communicable Diseases Hospital - 044-25912686.

Coimbatore Medical College Hospital - 09442012555

Kolkata: Infectious Diseases Hospital: 09433392182/ 09434009077

Hyderabad: AP Chest Diseases Hospital: 040-23814939

Mumbai: Kasturba Hospital: 022-23083901, 23083902, 23083903, 23083904

Pune: Dr Naidu Infectious Disease Hospital - 09923130909

Bangalore: Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases - 91-80-26632634

Lakeside Hospital - 80-5360823

Pune doc, Chennai boy die; swine flu toll 6

The H1N1 panic is spreading as fast as the virus across the country with two deaths being reported early on Monday morning. In Pune, an Ayurvedic doctor, who was brought to Sassoon hospital in Pune after reporting of symptoms, died of swine flu-related complications. A four-year-old boy from Chennai also died while being treated for other complications.



Courtesy:http://ibnlive.in.com/

Pune doctor dies of swine flu, toll rises to 5

A 35-year-old ayurvedic doctor died here on Monday morning becoming the fifth fatality of the deadly swine flu in the country.
Dr Babasaheb Mane is the third person to lose his life due to the H1N1 virus in Pune. Mane, who was admitted to the Sasoon Hospital here, died this morning due to swine flu, a senior health official said.

Mane was ailing for sometime and there was blood in his cough for the last couple of days, officials said.

Pune reported India's first swine flu death on August 3 with 14-year-old Reeda Sheikh succumbing to the disease.

On Saturday, 53-year-old Fahmida Panwala from Mumbai and 42-year-old teacher Sanjay Tukaram Kokre from Pune had died of swine flu. On Saturday, A 43-year-old NRI had died in Ahmedabad.

Ahmedabad man dies of swine flu, toll rises to 4

A 43-year-old man died of swine flu early morning on Sunday at the city civil hospital here, a senior official said Confirming the first swine flu death in Gujarat, state health secretary Ravi Saxena said Praveen Patel, an NRI, died of swine flu at city civil hospital at around 1:30am.

"He was admitted to the hospital in critical condition yesterday morning. His left lung was badly damaged," Saxena said.

Patel, who had returned from Atlanta on July 31, was admitted to a private hospital for pneumonia and common flu on Friday.

"He was referred to the civil hospital after doctors treating him realised that it was not common flu," Saxena said, adding where he was confirmed having swine flu.

Patel's wife has also been confirmed suffering from swine flu and is being treated at the civil hospital, he said. So far, 10 people have been tested positive for H1N1 virus in the state, he added.

The country has now seen four deaths from swine flu with the number of infected cases rising to 782.

On Saturday, 53-year-old Fahmida Panwala from Mumbai and 42-year-old teacher Sanjay Tukaram Kokre from Pune had died of swine flu. Earlier on August 3, 14-year-old schoolgirl Reeda Shaikh also from Pune, had died due to the H1N1 virus.

Doc, chemist with H1N1 battle for life

As swine flu
cases across the country rose, an ayurvedic doctor and a chemist infected with the H1N1 virus were battling for
their lives on Friday in Pune, the city from which the first flu fatality was reported. Both the doctor and the chemist are on the ventilator.

Across India, 96 new cases were confirmed taking the total number of flu patients to 171. Alarmed by the spurt, the Union health ministry on Friday decided to allow private hospitals and labs with bio-safety level-II to conduct swab tests but only if these had isolation wards where positive cases could be quarantined. These private facilities are also required to have a real-time PCR, the gold-standard test to detect H1N1. Health authorities also directed fliers in high-risk groups, such as senior citizens, pregnant women and heart patients, to wear masks at all times during the journey.

On Friday, Mumbai also reported its first flu-positive case - a school student. While school authorities denied the student had swine flu, health officials confirmed the case. The school will be shut from Monday.

In Pune, the 36-year-old doctor, who had been suffering from an upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) for a week, went to the Naidu government hospital to get his throat swabs taken. According to the doctor's brother, authorities at Naidu hospital did not take his throat swab following which he went to a private hospital. When he started complaining of breathlessness on Wednesday, the hospital, suspecting it to be a case of swine flu, sent his swab for testing to the NIV on Thursday. The report, which was received early on Friday, showed that he was H1N1 positive.

The 35-year-old chemist from Hadapsar, who tested positive for the flu and was admitted to the Sassoon hospital on Thursday night, was said to be showing signs of improvement. He was brought to the hospital in a critical condition, medical superintendent Pandurang Pawar said.

A six-year-old girl, who also tested positive for swine flu at a private hospital, was shifted to Sassoon hospital later in the evening. Her condition was stable, said Dr Pawar.

Ten people with whom the chemist came in contact over the past few days have been quarantined and under observation. Most of them are the chemist's relatives. Eight of them have been quarantined at home while two are at Sassoon hospital.

The hospital has just two ventilators and has requisitioned for six more. Dr Pawar said he had enough Tamiflu tablets but has still asked for 5,000 more.

10,000 masks sold in 15 days

After the first swine flu death in Pune, several people in the city are panicking and are thronging city hospitals for enquiries. People with the slightest hint of cough and cold are anxious to get themselves tested for the H1N1 flu virus. Interestingly, the list starts from younger age group who are more concerned about contracting the deadly virus. Adding to this are mails that are frightening people with bizzare statistics of swine flu cases across the world. Says Dr. J. K. Reddy, pediatrician at Child Trust Hospital, “I get nearly five persons a day who enquire about swine flu. As there was a change in climate, many kids suffer from fever and cold. Concerned parents approach me wanting to know more about this disease and how it could affect their kids. As the symptoms for this virus are a common fever or cold, they are more worried.”
The demand for face masks have also increased. Dilip Ranka, manager at Chennai Surgical and Pharma Generics says, “There is an increase for swine flu masks. There are two types of masks — one of a cheaper quality available for just Rs 1.50 and the other at Rs 70. In 15 days, we have sold about 10,000 masks.”
Doctors are also advising the HR managers of various companies about what they should do when they come across such symptoms among employees. Says Dr. Vijay Raghavan, consultant medicine, LifeLine Hospitals, “I’m getting around four to five enquiries per day and many are from the IT sector. Surprisingly the age group is from 18 to 35 years. As the awareness is high, the fear factor is increasing and people with slight cold and fever are on the lookout for doctor’s advice.”
Says Divya Bhargavi, an IT professional, “One of my friends had a sore throat, running nose — almost all the symptoms of swine flu. But fortunately, her temperature came down and she was all right within a week. Adding to our worry are the various e-mails about the flu, even though we look at the lighter side of it. These have figures of people who died in USA, UK, Australia, and finally it reads, ‘It’s India’s turn to lose. Be cautious’.”
Dr. Gunasekaran, deputy director, department of Virology, King Institute of Preventive Medicine says, “People themselves assume that it could be swine flu and come to us. There is a lot of panic after the death of a young girl from Pune. Unless the director of Public Health permits, we are not allowed to proceed further.”

SWINE FLU MYTH BUSTER

* Eating pork could give you the disease : No, it does not. The virus spreads person-to-person by contact and close proximity.

* A running nose : Not necessary as it may be just a regular flu. Nevertheless if you have other swine flu symptoms such as high fever, vomiting etc., get a check-up done

* No cure : With proper medications and care, H1N1 virus can be cured.

* Safer with mask : May not be always helpful. It is better to sneeze into a tissue and bin them. Wash your hands regularly.

w H1N1 virus, the only threat today : There are more people dying of diarrhoea everyday compared to swine flu!

Now, outbreak of panic over swine flu

Women cradling babies, schoolchildren tagging along with parents, college-going teens, senior citizens and even pregnant women - more than
a thousand people thronged Pune's government-run Naidu Hospital on Wednesday as panic deepened two days after the country's first fatality from swine flu was reported from the city.

Men, women and children with the slightest hint of cough and cold, anxious to get tested for the flu virus, began gathering from early morning and doctors and hospital staff soon found themselves swamped by a jostling crowd.

What made things worse was private general physicians, who normally are the first point of consultation, turning back patients who came to them with cold and fever symptoms, telling them to get checked at Naidu Hospital.

Pune municipal commissioner Mahesh Zagade said 20 patients suspected of having the virus were admitted to the hospital on Wednesday. Nine positive cases were reported as more people reported for testing, following the death of 14-year-old Rida Shaikh. The city planned 15 more screening centres for the H1N1 flu from Thursday. The civic administration also decided to increase the number of doctors at the hospital to clear the rush.

As the crowd at the hospital grew larger, tempers rose. Around 11am, a scuffle broke out between members in the crowd and the hospital staff following confusion regarding entry into the medical officer's cabin. However, policemen deputed at the hospital brought the situation under control.

No sooner than he came to the hospital for an inspection, municipal commissioner Zagade was surrounded by concerned parents. Parents of students from St Anne's School, where Rida Shaikh studied, demanded that their children be tested first.

``One doctor can handle 40-45 cases in a day. With more and more people pouring in here, we need more experts to deal with the situation,'' Zagade said.

On Wednesday, as many as 100 throat swab samples were sent for testing to the National Institute of Virology (NIV).

The institute usually receives an average of 40 samples every day. In view of the large number of samples, the NIV has doubled its workforce and machinery.

Taking note of complaints that private practitioners were directing patients to Naidu Hospital with minor ailments, district collector Chandrakant Dalvi warned that it would be considered a ``serious offence'' if any doctor avoided his duty of initially screening flu patients.

However, Dilip Sarda, president of the Pune unit of the Indian Medical Association, told TOI that the developments following Rida's death had created a panic in the medical fraternity. ``Doctors are reluctant to check patients suffering from cold and fever as they fear action may be taken against them if any of the patients test positive for H1N1 later. However, the IMA is appealing to the doctors not to refuse patients,'' he said.

With more than 70 confirmed cases of H1N1 flu coming from various city schools so far, the Pune Municipal Corporation

(PMC) held an emergency meeting of school representatives on Wednesday and instructed principals and headmasters of all private and municipal schools to raise awareness about the flu among students and their parents and submit a report about the steps taken to the civic body on August 7.

Meanwhile, worried parents at Naidu Hospital, many of whom waited for over two hours, seemed far from satisfied with the doctors.

``All the doctor did was counsel us. He refused to do the swab test even though my son has been suffering from fever, diahorrea and vomiting since the last six days. The doctor says unless they are sure that he has come in contact with an infected person, they will not do the test. But since my son goes to school, it is difficult to say whether he has come in contact with a positive case,'' said an angry father.

Another parent, also unhappy with the testing, said, ``In the past few days, we have been to the railway station, banks and other public places. How can we possibly know whether anybody there was infected or not?”

Defending their stand of not testing every person who showed symptoms, Narendra Thakur, medical officer at the Naidu hospital, said, ``The government has set criteria for us to conduct the tests. The swab test will be done only if a person has been abroad recently or has come in contact with a positive case. We have to work according to the guidelines of the government. Due to panic, even those suffering from ordinary flu are coming to us and we cannot test everyone.''

The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) also held a meeting of school representatives on Wednesday. PCMC medical officer R R Iyer told TOI that the civic body has appointed 42 medical officers to keep a watch on schools in the municipal limits. The relatives of two H1N1-positive cases in the PCMC limits have been quarantined at home.

Aundh civil hospital, which is the other centre for treating and admitting H1N1 cases, took in 17 new suspected cases on Wednesday. The hospital has seen 18 positive cases so far. Of these, 15 have recovered.

In Satara district, the Krantisinh Nana Patil hospital opened a special screening cell on Wednesday. Twenty-five positive cases have been detected in the district over the past two weeks. The hospital presently has six confirmed and two suspected cases. Seventeen patients have recovered.

Two students of Rida's school test positive for A(H1N1) flu

Two girl students of a school from where the country's first A(H1N1) flu death was recorded tested positive for the deadly virus on Wednesday night, as hundreds of anxious people including children thronged a referral hospital to take tests leading to panic and chaos.

A Class Ten student from St. Anne's school tested positive for the deadly A(H1N1)virus as per the information provided by her father, according to Nirmala Chandy, Vice Principal of the school.

14-year-old Rida Sheikh, a Class 9 student, succumbed to the disease on Monday triggering a wave of panic in the city.

Rida, who had flu symptoms on July 21, attended school briefly after taking treatment from a general practitioner before she was admitted again on July 27 at Jehangir hospital.

Civic Medical Officer R R Pardeshi said a fourth-standard girl from the same school was also admitted to the Naidu civic hospital, a referral centre for A(H1N1) Flu, in the morning on Wednesday with symptoms of the disease.

Throat swabs of the girl were sent to Pune-based National Institute of Virology(NIV) which tested positive for the virus, he said.

Ms. Chandy said the school will be closed for eight days from Wednesday.

Doctors and authorities tried to calm frantic parents with children wearing face masks for protection rushing to Naidu hospital to take H1N1 influenza tests. Police had to be called in to control the crowd.

There were complaints galore by people referred to the Naidu hospital for the tests that they were not being attended properly but hospital authorities sought to downplay it saying the "whole burden" was on them and that people even without any symptoms were being referred.

Swine flu death: Victim's family to sue hospital for negligence

The family of the 14-year-old girl who died of swine flu on Monday due to "delayed treatment" has threatened civil and criminal action against the private hospital where she was admitted.

Fourteen-year-old Rida Shaikh died at the Jehangir Hospital in Pune. She was suffering from the influenza A (H1N1) virus infection for a fortnight. Her upset family on Tuesday said that they would sue the hospital for negligence and give all the money to charity.

"We will take civil and criminal action against the hospital. The family will also sue the hospital for damages and get a huge sum of money. We are not interested in the money. The money will be given to charity," Asif Lampwala, the family lawyer said at a press conference here.

An upset and emotional Sajid Shaikh, Rida's father, said: "If they (the private hospital) had sent Rida's samples to the NIV earlier, probably my daughter would have been alive today."

Her aunt, Ayesha Shaikh, added: "We didn't know then, but now we know that Ruby Hall, where Rida's samples were sent for tests initially, was not authorised (to test for swine flu)."

"Initially the hospital said she was suffering from pneumonia, then they said she was suffering from some respiratory disorder. When her lungs got affected they told us that there was nothing to worry because her other organs were not affected.

"When we realised what the truth was, it was too late," she added.

Rida had consulted a general practitioner on July 21 when she first reported flu-like symptoms - sore throat, runny nose and headache. When her condition improved, she joined school on July 23.

According to a health ministry statement, she again developed fever on July 25, and consulted another private practitioner. Her fever continued and she was admitted to the Jehangir Hospital on July 27.

Her condition worsened and she was shifted to the ICU and put on the ventilator on July 29. Her sample was sent to the National Institute of Virology only on July 31 and found to be positive for swine flu. She was put on Oseltamivir or Tamiflu on July 30. Her condition, however, deteriorated and she died on Monday, the first death in the country because of H1N1 virus.

On Monday, union health secretary Naresh Dayal said in New Delhi that the girl was given anti-flu medicine at a very late stage.

"It appears she was treated late. If she had been treated earlier, she could have been saved," Dayal said

First swine flu death in India

India on Monday reported its first death due to H1N1 flu infection, with a 14-year-old-girl from Pune succumbing to the deadly
influenza virus.

The girl, a student of class IX from St Anne’s High School first showed symptoms of H1N1 infection — sore throat, running nose and headache — on July 21.

But a critical delay in being tested for H1N1 infection and being administered Tamiflu, because she was admitted in a private hospital instead of the stipulated government isolation ward meant for both suspected and confirmed H1N1 patients, may have been the cause of her death.

Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad told TOI, “Had Tamiflu been administered in the beginning, the girl could have been saved. I advise people to go to government hospitals and get checked for H1N1 even if they have mild symptoms.’’

What’s bothering the Union health ministry is that the girl had attended school till July 23, raising serious fears that the virus may have jumped to other students and teachers in the school besides everybody she came in contact with from July 20-23.

Shockingly, Lymette Wilson, the school’s physical education teacher said the state health department had not even informed the school that a student was found to be infected with H1N1.

This is why the school hasn’t even started looking for similar H1N1 symptoms in other students till now. Wilson said, “Till yesterday, we were told it’s a lung infection.”

The state health department on the other hand is upset with the National Institute of Virology for not informing them that a positive sample was sent to them by a private hospital.

M S Devnikar, head of Pune’s joint co-ordination committee for containment of H1NI, told TOI, ‘‘Till today, we were not aware that a patient with symptoms of swine flu was admitted to a private hospital.”

The school meanwhile will be shut on Tuesday as a mark of condolence on the girl’s death. However, it will open after that.

India recorded its first H1N1 case in Hyderabad on May 16 and since then the virus has spread to almost 22 cities and towns across the country.

Explaining the series of events that led to the death of the girl, Maharashtra’s health secretary Sharvari Gokhale told TOI, ‘‘On July 21, the girl first showed symptoms. She then consulted a general practitioner and kept attending school till July 23. Two days later, she reported high fever. She was then admitted to Jehangir hospital, a private nursing home on July 27. Her condition worsened following which she was shifted to the Intensive Care Unit and was put on a ventilator on July 29.’’

“On July 31, her throat and nose swab was sent to National Institute of Virology (Pune) which confirmed that she was infected with H1N1. The same day, almost 10 days after her symptoms first appeared, she was administered the first dose of Tamilfu, which obviously was too late,” Gokhale said.

‘‘Inspite of telling people day in and day out that in case they show symptoms of H1N1, they should immediately report only to stipulated government hospitals, the instructions are not followed. We are sending a team tomorrow to trace all contact cases in the school,’’ she added.

India’s announcement of the death came soon after the first fatality due to the virus was reported from sub-Saharan Africa, the only region in the world that had not reported any deaths till Sunday night.

The death in South Africa of a healthy student due to H1N1 infection on Monday means that the virus has now killed people in all regions of the world.

The World Health Organisation declared the present outbreak as a H1N1 influenza epidemic on June 11.
The virus has till now killed more than 800 people worldwide and is expected to hit 30% of the world population in its second wave, towards the end of the year when the cool climate would be perfect for the virus to propagate.

Meanwhile the Union health ministry will soon chair a meeting to discuss the death.

Union health secretary Naresh Dayal said that Tamiflu could be made available as an over-the-counter drug in select government hospitals and chemist shops only on prescription by a physician, soon.

“NIV and NICD will evaluate what caused this death. We will do a thorough medical examination to see whether the girl had any underlying condition or was it the delay that caused the death. The pneumonia she contracted in the end became too serious and ended her life. Last three days she was so critical that she couldn’t even be moved from the private nursing home to a government hospital,” officials said.