Surveillance system updated at Lohegaon airport

Pune: With cases of H1N1 flu increasing steadily, the Lohegaon airport authorities have further tightened the surveillance system by installing two laser thermoflash infrared digital thermometer gun with laser sight (non-contact) for noting down body temperatures from a distance. The facility will be operational from today (July 24).
"Earlier, we had aural hi-tech digital thermometers, now we have upgraded the surveillance facility by adding two advanced laser thermoflash for fast and accurate detection of the virus," said S B Nadoni, senior regional director (health and family welfare), Government of India, on Thursday.
Around 8.98 lakh passengers arriving from international flights in the state were screened for H1N1 flu in the last two months. "Of which, the medical health officials detected 78 passengers as suspected cases. Later, throat swab reports of 11 confirmed the presence of H1N1 flu. All the 11 positive cases were spotted at the Mumbai airport. Not a single case was detected at Lohegaon airport in Pune and the Nagpur airport," said Pradip Awate, head of the swine flu control room in Mumbai.
Of the 34 positive cases in Pune, 13 developed symptoms after reaching the city from some international destinations. While 21 are school-goers who started contracting the virus one after the other after one of them caught the virus from a relative who had gone to the USA under a cultural exchange programme and later tested positive.
24/07/09 Umesh Isalkar/Times of India

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Categories: Airports Jul 2009