Chinese workers found with flu symptoms

BHUBANESWAR/SAMBALPUR: Even as western Orissa continues to reel under a sudden outbreak of the H1N1, nine Chinese nationals were rushed to the VSS Medical College and Hospital with suspected symptoms on Monday.

The Chinese nationals are part of a 55- member team working for establishment of the power plant of Sterlite Energy Ltd at Jharsuguda. They are employees of Chinese company Sepco which is setting up the power plant.

 State H1N1 Nodal Centre revealed that the Chinese have reported fever as well as rashes. “The medical college has been advised to go in for necessary treatment as per the symptoms of patients. Their swab samples will be collected and sent for testing when necessary,” Nodal Officer Bikash Patnaik said. They have been kept in isolation and are under constant monitoring, the official sources said. With the western Orissa region reporting most of the H1N1 cases in the last 10 days, the Chinese team contracting the virus has come in as shock. Efforts are on to ascertain if the infection was local or was it brought from elsewhere. Ten more samples were sent for testing to the Regional Medical Research Centre and three tested positive today. Two of them are from VSS Medical College while the third one is from Kar Clinic in Bhubaneswar.

 With the three positive cases, the total number jumps to 82 out of 253 swab samples which were tested. So far 19 persons have died of H1N1, including two reported yesterday from VSS Medical College itself.