H1N1 private testing lab inaugurated in City

H1N1 private testing lab inaugurated in City

'We are geared up to tackle the second wave of Influenza A (H1N1). Large scale awareness programme about the flu has been scheduled at district level at the end of this month,' said State Health Commissioner P N Srinivasachari here on Wednesday.


Inaugurating the first H1N1 swab testing private laboratory at the Narayana Nethralaya hospital here, the commissioner said: “The second wave of H1N1 influenza has already started in the United Kingdom and we are prepared to face the situation. Opening more testing labs will help people to cope with this health condition.”

While confirming that there was a second wave of the flu in the UK, Dr V Ravi, Prof and HoD, Department of Neurovirology, Nimhans, who visited Kingscross Hospital in UK, said: “With the winter having started in the UK, the Kingscross Hospital has received more numbers of patients in October than in the past two months.”

Dr Ravi said that four international pharma companies Bayer, Sanofi Pasteur, Novartis and GSK Glaxo Smith Kline have been given the licence to produce H1N1 vaccine for India by the ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research).

Currently, the companies are conducting clinical trials. The vaccine is likely to be out by January 2010 in the country. The hospital will charge Rs 5,500 to test one sample at their lab. The laboratory has the capacity for processing 80 samples per day.

Death toll rises to 111

Two more persons succumbed to influenza A (H1N1) taking the death toll to 111 in the State, with 67 in Bangalore alone. A 52-year-old man and a 22-year-old women expired at two different private hospitals in Mysore. Their swab test results were found to be positive on Wednesday.

Seven more cases have tested positive for the flu, of which five were reported in Bangalore, and one each in Ramanagara and Bidar. Till date 1,283 persons have tested positive for Influenza A (H1N1).