Date:06/07/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/07/06/stories/2009070658190300.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Swine flu: Samsung staff test negative

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: Allaying fears of Samsung India employees who had rushed to the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD) for screening after one of their colleagues tested positive for swine flu. RGICD director Shashidhar Buggi said the company’s employees had become restless and panicky unnecessarily.

The six samples given by the employees have tested negative.

“The anxiety shown by the employees was uncalled for. The company should have consulted doctors before asking its employees to get screened. Now that all the samples have tested negative, I hope they are reassured,” he said.

Meanwhile, 11 persons were screened at the institute on Sunday. Of these four had been directly referred from the Benguluru International Airport. All the four throat and nasal swabs have been sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune for tests, he said.

The four include a two-year-old baby who returned with her parents from the United Kingdom, an eight-year-old girl who arrived here from Singapore and a 15-year-old boy who came from the U.S., he said.

To clear doubts and misconceptions about swine flu and its effects, the institute will hold an awareness workshop on its premises on Thursday, he added.