The outbreak of H1N1 viral infection among students of the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya at Periye in Kasaragod is now under control with most of the students already recovered or recovering.
As the infection was confirmed in five students last week, 71 students having symptoms of the infection were quarantined and kept under observation in hostel rooms of the school. Only around 40 students are under observation now. The outbreak did not disrupt normal functioning of the school or classes.
“No case of fever was reported from the school today except a case of suspected common cold,” District Medical Officer A.P. Dinesh Kumar told The Hindu . He said the students would remain under observation for five more days as they completed the course of medicines.
The students under observation were found to have fever with cough, sore throat and runny nose on Thursday. Health officials then collected sample swabs of five students for testing in the virology laboratory at Manipal. All the five samples were tested H1N1 positive.
Recovering
“At present 22 girls and 22 boys are under observation though they are recovering,” school Principal K.M. Vijayakumar said. Parents of the students, all natives of Kasaragod district, were informed that they would be allowed to visit their children on next Saturday.
The weekly visitation was cancelled in view of the outbreak of the infection. As the school is a residential one having a total 520 students, the spread of the infection could be checked, he added.
