The Bangalore hospital authorised to treat swine flu is working efficiently, although it isn't strictly going by central government guidelines

Government doctors gave me 'Tamiflu when I had no symptoms of swine flu: high fever and a sore throat.

But that isn't really a mistake and I wouldn't be worse off taking the pills, a private practitioner assured me.

Bangalore reported its 15th casualty from the deadly flu yesterday. MiD DAY decided to find out how the Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Chest Diseases was managing the testing.

OOPS! MiD DAY reporter returned yesterday with a strip of Fluvir, commonly referred to as 'Tamiflu'u00a0 Pic Satish Badiger

Doctors gave me a strip of 10 tablets of Fluvir at the end of my expedition. Fluvir is made by Hetero Drugs Ltd, based in a Himachal Pradesh town. The generic drug used in it goes by the name of oseltamivir, which is what also goes into Tamiflu, the much talked-about drug manufactured by a US company. 'Tamiflu', like 'Xerox', is being used like a generic name.

Dr Oliver Rodrigues, general physician, said, "There is nothing wrong in taking the tablet. Doctors normally err on the side of caution, and that's why they have prescribed those pills."

He said swine flu was completely curable with a dose of 'Tamilfu' provided complications have not developed.

At the hospital

Our photographer Satish Badiger and I reached the hospital, near Nimhans in south Bangalore, at 11.40 am. It is set in green environs, and was almost empty, with just a few people walking in and out.

The sign: The H1N1 unit at Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Chest Diseasesu00a0 Read Next Story Much Tweet about nothing› Trending Stories Latest Photos Latest Videos Latest Web Stories ADVERTISEMENT Mid-Day Fast ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT