The Hindu : Concern over Mumbai patient

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 27, 2003

National

National

Concern over Mumbai patient

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI April 26. With the total number of persons testing positive for the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in the country going up to seven, considerable attention is being accorded to the new cases detected from Pune, Mumbai and Kolkata.

The case of a man from Mumbai, who is among the seven confirmed SARS cases, is particularly significant, as he had travelled extensively to different parts of the country before being admitted to hospital with fever.

Arriving in Mumbai from Hong Kong on April 13 by a Cathay Pacific flight, the 34-year-old man had travelled to Delhi on April 18 and, after staying here for two days, he left for Chennai before returning to Mumbai on April 22.

He was admitted to the Kasturba Hospital there the same day after developing fever. The National Institute of Virology at Pune, to which his sputum and other samples were sent, today reported that he was SARS positive.

The patient from Kolkata had also raised concern as he reportedly arrived from China at the end of last month, but developed the symptoms for SARS this week only, even though the incubation period is considered between two and 10 days. He showed SARS symptoms while being admitted for a heart ailment.

Health Ministry officials said the authorities in Kolkata had been asked to go through the entire case history of the patient again, since they were doubts over when he came from China.

If he had actually arrived from China at the end of last month, he could not have contracted the disease from there. In other words, he would have probably contracted it from someone else here.

In the case of Pune, the newly-confirmed case is the uncle of the bride, who got married even after she was confirmed to be positive for SARS.

Meanwhile, the Indian Medical Association, apex body of the private medical practitioners, today urged the Government to declare SARS a "notifiable" disease to ensure that all suspected SARS cases are reported to the authorities promptly.

Addressing a press conference, the IMA secretary-general, Sanjiv Malik, said this was essential as there were reports that doctors were shying away from informing the authorities in a bid to protect their patients — who would have to undergo a tedious process of testing of samples and confinement in isolation wards.

He also urged the Government to allow an independent team of experts to check out on the screening and other arrangements at airports to prevent the entry of SARS from affected countries and involve the IMA in a more "pro-active manner" to deal with the emerging situation.

Mr. Malik complained that the Government had not involved the IMA adequately even though the first person a patient went was to a private doctor.

"Ever since the outbreak of the disease, we have been trying to contact the Government. But, there was no response till a few days ago, when it suddenly chose to call for an emergency meeting".

The IMA needs to be kept in the loop on a continuous basis as the disease was new and it was essential that doctors be briefed as and when new aspects about it came to light.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National