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Fortunately, she went to a private hospital on her own after a few days and got herself tested. Her throat swab sample tested positive for the virus. She is currently going through the quarantine period. "The medical staff at BIA let me pass through though I had declared that I had Flu in the form," she told Deccan Herald on Thursday.
Recalling her experience as a quarantined patient, she said a week is lost in the whole screening, testing and spending time in quarantine, "If I was sent to the designated hospital from the Airport itself, I would have saved a lot of time and treatment would have started much earlier", she said.
Hygiene upgradation
This patient’s two daughters also had tested positive with H1N1 Flu. Sharing her quarantine experience, the patient said, "The hygiene standards still need improvement, at least when it comes to toilets at hospitals."
Another H1N1 patient who got discharged after a quarantine period last month said that people like him had no option but to get themselves admitted at the designated government Hospital. Revealing certain flaws in basic amenities at designated H1N1 Flu hospitals, this patient said that there was a foreign national who was admitted at the hospital along with him who had diarrhea as one of her flu symptoms but the toilets were not segregated.
Many patients who were hospitalised for quarantine were restless during the period. RMO of Lakeside Medical Centre and Hospital Dr Raviraj said that many patients were so desperate to get out that they were counting their days in quarantine, "Just imagine, how long can a person watch television if you do not have a reading habit," he said.
Here’s what the quarantine system require: The patient tested positive for the virus has to stay in an isolated room without any human interaction. The only person who will visit him/her are the doctors and paramedic staff to check on the patient's condition. On rare occasions, patient's relatives are allowed to interact with the patient from a distance.
The Medical Department however is still in the process of streamlining the process of treating H1N1 patients. Facilities available at designated hospitals are being upgraded from time to time.
H1N1 symptoms: One admitted
A five-year-old girl who arrived from London on July 15, developed symptoms of H1N1 Flu and was admitted at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases on Friday. The girl’s throat swab sample was collected and sent to National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune for test.
Meanwhile, another patient who completed her quarantine period was discharged from RGICD.
At present, there are two positive cases and one suspected case of H1N1 flu hospitalised at the Institute.