SARS: 3 hospitals readied for outbreak

The Director General Health Services has identified three main hospitals which would be in a state of readiness in case of any outbreak of S...

The Director General Health Services has identified three main hospitals which would be in a state of readiness in case of any outbreak of SARS in the country.

The hospitals are the three Central Government hospitals in Delhi — AIIMS, Ram Manohar Lohia and Safdarjung hospital.

A core group consisting of health experts from these hospitals has also been formed to track developments and any possible cases.

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DGHS has also designated NICD Director Shiv Lal to keep the media informed. ‘‘The government has established a core group of experts to be vigilant on the spread of the mysterious pneumonia,’’ said Lal.

The government has also requested the WHO to supply 20-25 diagnostic kits to detect the virus. The government had promised to procure the recently developed diagnostic kit to tackle the confirmed presence of SARS virus if any probable case is reported.

The hospitals on their part have devised their own mechanism to face the threat. ‘‘We have briefed our staff to immediately isolate the patients with high fever and also those who are suspected to have respiratory problems similar to that of SARS.

Even if doctors can’t identify the virus must work to increase the patients’ immunity,’’ said Dr Jagdish Prasad, Medical Superintendent Safdarjung hospital.

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