Puneites throng to get tested for swine flu

Hours after the news of Reeda Shaikh's death from swine flu, panic stricken Puneites thronged Dr Naidu Hospital, asking the authorities to get them tested for the H1N1 virus.
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Most suffered from cold, cough or fever, which they feared could easily be incipient signs of a swine flu infection. Additional Commissioneru00a0 M S Devnikar said around 1,000 citizens got themselves checked for the flu at the hospital yesterday.



Students of St Anne's were also present in the serpentine queues at the hospital. The parent of a girl said, "I am worried because my daughter and Reeda had a common friend and she is suffering from a mild cold."

Another student from the school said, "I am from a different division, but from the same class as Reeda. She was admitted to a private hospital till July 23, but rejoined school the next day."

Family check-up
Rumaina Parchawala, a resident of Fatima Nagar, visited the hospital with her college-going daughter and husband. "I asked the doctors to check our entire family for swine flu, as I was running a fever since the last week."

One of the patients described the process: "They ask if you have returned from abroad recently, and if you have come in contact with a person who has tested positive for swine flu. If the answers are negative, they let you go."

Sunil Mahajan, who tested negative for the swine flu virus, said, "No one has tested positive for swine flu in my daughter's school. Doctors asked me to treat her for pneumonia, as she showed early signs of disease, but said she is not suffering from swine flu."