Swine flu screening to be stopped at airports

Pune: Screening of patients with swine flu symptoms is likely to be stopped at airports, Dr S B Nadoni, senior regional director of health for Maharashtra, Goa and Daman said. Nadoni said that an order was expected from the Centre within a day or two.
The screening at Pune airport commenced on April 30 and till date a total of 11,380 passengers were examined by a medical team. Only five with suspected swine flu symptoms were treated at the airport and given Tamiflu tablets, says Nadoni.
Pune airport has 10-12 weekly flights from countries and passengers fly in from countries like Singapore, Dubai and Germany. While Nadoni admitted that no serious complaints were received, however the centre was seriously toying with the idea of stopping the screening at the airport.
The exercise is more or less redundant now with the virus entrenched in various parts of the country, says Dr A C Mishra, Director of National Institute of Virology (NIV).
12/11/09 Anuradha Mascarenhas/Indian Express

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Categories: Airports Nov 2009