BMC plans two more swine flu isolation wards

Following demands from city corporators for improved mechanisms for checking H1N1 virus or swine flu...

Following demands from city corporators for improved mechanisms for checking H1N1 virus or swine flu,the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has agreed to open isolation wards in one civic hospital in the eastern and western suburbs each.

The BMC general body meeting on Thursday saw discussion on swine flu with corporators demanding more facilities to check the influenza and curb its spread. A person staying in far off eastern or western suburbs has to travel all the way to Kasturba Hospital and then again wait in long queues at the hospital to get tested. We,therefore,demand that the corporation should make these facilities available in more hospitals, BJP corporator Ashish Shelar said.

Taking a note of the demand,Additional Municipal Commissioner (health) Manisha Mhaiskar said the civic administration can replicate the swine flu check-up mechanism of Kasturba Hospital and open isolation wards in at least one municipal-run hospital in eastern and western suburbs. Isolating wards will take some time but we can start with the examination facilities. Also,if need arises we will further increase the bed capacity at Kasturba Hospital, Mhaiskar said.

While earlier throat swabs of suspects had to be sent at the National Institute of Virology in Pune,now the state-run Haffkine institute laboratory in Mumbai can be used to verify if a patient has swine flu. Mhaiskar said that the detection centre will be opened in Kasturba Hospital itself so that swabs could be tested immediately in the building premises itself.

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