Chandigarh doctor contracts swine flu

CHANDIGARH - A 28-year-old doctor of a hospital here tested positive for the influenza A (H1N1) virus, taking the total number of swine flu cases to 63, health officials said Monday.

The patient is a resident doctor in the Government Medical College and Hospital in Sector 32. He was staying in the doctors’ complex. We had collected his throat and nasal swab samples yesterday (Sunday), a health official said.

His reports are positive and we have administered tamiflu to him. We have also quarantined four of his family members, he added.

Till date, 63 people have tested positive for swine flu and three casualties have been reported in this region.

So far 17 doctors, working in various hospitals in Chandigarh, have tested positive for the virus.

The health department has issued special directives for the hospital staff. We know that the nature of their work makes them more prone to this virus but we are making every possible effort to control its spread, said H.C. Gera, the nodal officer for swine flu in Chandigarh.