Gandhinagar, Aug 6 (IANS) Taking no chances after swine flu claimed its first victim in the country, the Gujarat government has directed all private hospitals to refer all suspected swine flu patients to state-run hospitals for isolation without fail.
“The death of a girl in Pune on Monday was an eye-opener for all of us. The state government has categorically told all the private hospitals and private physicians with their own clinics to refer any patients with suspected swine flu symptoms to a government hospital having the quarantine facility,” a health department official here said.

The private hospitals and physicians found violating this directive would face legal action, he said.

The state government has also called for more intensive screening of the international passengers arriving at the Ahmedabad airport even as a 27-year-old doctor on duty there was diagnosed with the influenza A(H1N1) infection and was quarantined at the civil hospital in Ahmedabad Tuesday.

The doctor is the second case of full-blown influenza A(H1N1) virus infection in Gujarat. The first was a Thai national who was diagnosed with swine flu at the Kandla port. That patient was quarantined and discharged from a government hospital in Bhuj after treatment, the official added.