Gujarat Chief minister +ve for H1N1 (ex Russia?)

[Ronan Kelly]

Narendra Modi diagnosed with swine flu
TNN 30 October 2009, 11:05am IST

AHMEDABAD: Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, who returned from a trip to Russia two days ago, has tested positive for swine flu. The
confirmation of the test carried out on Thursday was announced by the state government on Friday morning, sending a wave of panic among a group of top industrialists who accompanied him on a recent visit to Moscow. ( Watch Video )

The whole Gujarat cabinet is also now being tested for the disease as the ministers were with the chief minister in a three-hour cabinet meeting on Thursday after his blood samples were taken.

One minister said: "He should not have taken the meeting if he was being suspected of having swine flu. He could have waited for the results of the test."

Reports about Modi having swine flu had started trickling in on Thursday evening. However, the government had refused to confirm it. Once the first test gave a positive result, another confirmatory test was carried out late on Thursday.

Modi?s samples were taken after he showed symptoms of cough, cold and fever, Atul Patel, one of the four doctors in the team looking after the chief minister, said, PTI reported.

The government has earlier tried to hide his identity and the sample was labelled with a different name- "Ramesh".

Modi, who returned on Wednesday, will be kept in isolation for seven days at his residence, where a team of doctors are attending on him.

All his public functions have been cancelled.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Narendra-Modi-diagnosed-with-swine-flu/articleshow/5179163.cms

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Gujarat Chief minister +ve for H1N1 (ex Russia?)

Gujarat on trail of Modi flu
TNN 1 November 2009, 03:47am IST

GANDHINAGAR: Where did Chief Minister Narendra Modi get the swine flu? The question has taken doctors on a virtual global hunt, tracing all the
places that the CM has visited recently - Sikkim, Russia, Vadodara - and the numerous well-wishers he met during Diwali.

And, what has raised hackles of experts is the fact that there was no check for flu at the airport in Moscow. Modi spent his Diwali in Sikkim, on October 16 and 17, meeting jawans on the Sino-Indian border. He spent the Gujarati new year day - October 19 - praying at the Bhadra Kali temple in Ahmedabad and the Panchdev Mahadev temple in Gandhinagar and then attending a ?sneh milan? programme at the IPS mess in Shahibaug.

On October 23, the last day of the auspicious Labh Pacham, he met a large number of people at the state BJP office in Khanpur. On Sunday, October 25, the CM went to Vadodara where, as the president of the Gujarat Cricket Association, he shook hands with the Indian and Australian cricket team members and dignitaries.

He flew off to Moscow with a delegation of industrialists on October 25 evening. He was back on Wednesday and fell ill the very next day. He tested positive for H1N1 on Thursday.

The panel of doctors treating Modi feels he was not infected in Russia. Senior officials interacting with the team of doctors, led by top infectious diseases expert Atul Patel, said the doctors are of the opinion that he picked up the flu before he left for Russia, probably during Diwali or the New Year day when he met a large number of people. However, physician Dr Manoj Vithalani says "a person infected with swine flu starts showing symptoms from day one to day six, depending on his immunity level".

"Colder regions may prolong the symptoms of infection," he added. Sources say what may have aggravated matters for Modi was his exhaustion - following his Sikkim visit, post-Diwali engagements and trip to Vadodara before he embarked on the whirlwind tour of Russia - which doctors feel could have brought down his immunity level.

A senior official said Modi probably had problems with the sub-zero temperatures in Moscow and was seen coughing when he had to move out of his hotel for meetings. "And, he also met many Indians settled in Moscow. All this added to his problems," said the official.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Gujarat-on-trail-of-Modi-flu/articleshow/5185135.cms

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Gujarat Chief minister +ve for H1N1 (ex Russia?)

Modi may have got H1N1 virus closer home
TNN 2 November 2009, 12:25am IST

AHMEDABAD: Chief Minister Narendra Modi might have been infected by H1N1 virus in the state before leaving for Russia.


The high-level probe launched to find out how and where Modi had got infected has led state health department officials to zero in on places visited by the CM in Ahmedabad and Vadodara.

Doctors attending on Modi said the swine flu virus has an incubation period of seven days and the CM spent most of the week in Ahmedabad and Vadodara before leaving for Russia.

Investigators said Modi had prayed at Bhadra Kali temple in Ahmedabad and Panchdev Mahadev temple in Gandhinagar before attending a sneh milan' function at the IPS mess in Shahibaug.

A state government official, who is tracking the infection, said, "Investigations are pointing towards the possibility that the chief minister got infected by the virus in the state before going to Russia."

On October 23, Modi met with a large number of people at the state BJP office in Khanpur. On October 25, he visited Vadodara where, as the president of the Gujarat Cricket Association, he met with cricketers. Later, he flew off to Moscow with a delegation of industrialists the same day.

He returned on Wednesday and tested positive for H1N1 on Thursday.

While investigations have yet to come up with conclusive evidence, Modi's health has shown considerable improvement. CM health bulletin issued by state government on Sunday said that Modi's health is improving and he is responding well to the medical treatment. According to the panel of five doctors which is treating Modi, the CM is out of danger.

The release adds that all parameters of Modi's health are normal and he has been advised complete bed rest for a few more days in isolation at his residence.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Modi-may-have-got-H1N1-virus-closer-home/articleshow/5187149.cms

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Gujarat Chief minister +ve for H1N1 (ex Russia?)

Modi recovers but two top Gujarat health officials down with H1N1
PTI 5 November 2009, 10:03pm IST

AHMEDABAD: After Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, two top officials of the state health department have tested positive for swine flu.


"Two senior officials of the state health department are down with H1N1 infection," a senior official in the health department said.

The two officials have been quarantined and are being treated, he added. Meanwhile, four new positive cases of swine flu were reported today, two from Ahmedabad, one each from Bhavnagar and Gandhinagar.

So far, 289 positive cases have been reported from the state while 40 people have succumbed to the deadly viral infection caused by H1N1 virus.

Meanwhile, chief minister Narendra Modi has fully recovered from swine flu and is set to join office tomorrow.

Modi also expressed his gratitude to the people of the state who prayed for him during his illness. He said in a letter that he has got new strength from the prayers of people of the state.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Modi-recovers-but-two-top-Gujarat-health-officials-down-with-H1N1-/articleshow/5200887.cms

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Gujarat Chief minister +ve for H1N1 (ex Russia?)

Five health officials down with swine flu
TNN 6 November 2009, 02:45am IST
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AHMEDABAD: Five more state medical and health officers have been tested positive for swine flu after their boss and principal secretary (health)
Ravi Saxena was declared positive, on Wednesday.

The H1N1 virus has the state health department in its grip, with over half a dozen senior health officials, including the state nodal officer for swine flu being quarantined in their homes.

Additional health director Paresh Dave has tested positive for swine flu while nodal officer for swine flu in Gujarat Dr SJ Gandhi, has also been quarantined as he had come in contact with Saxena for official work.

And, the scare is evident as for the first time since swine flu broke out in the state in July, officials in the health commissioner's office in Gandhinagar were seen wearing masks.

Officials who reported for work on Thursday were jittery as most of them had come in touch with the senior official. "Nearly eight to 10 health officials have been quarantined as they had come in contact with the principal health secretary," said an official.

Meanwhile, medical condition of Saxena, who has been isolated in his residence, was reported to have improved with fever under control. He was tested after he got cough and fever. Since he was diagnosed and treated early, the symptoms have started subsiding early.

Saxena, who had been to Delhi to attend a wedding in the family, reportedly did not met the CM and yet turned up with the virus. In contrast, health commissioner Mukesh Puri, who had met Modi after he was diagnosed with swine flu, has tested negative.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Five-health-officials-down-with-swine-flu/articleshow/5201210.cms