'Swine flu death due to late diagnosis; new guidelines soon'

After the country registered its first swine flu death, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad today blamed late diagnosis for the incident and said his ministry would soon issue fresh guidelines to contain the spread of the deadly disease. Know more about H1N1

After the country registered its first swine flu death, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Tuesday blamed late diagnosis for the incident and said his ministry would soon issue fresh guidelines to contain spread of the disease.

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In Pune, family members of the 14-year-old victim said they would sue for negligence the private hospital where she
was admitted.

Azad, who chaired a high-level review meeting, said the ministry would issue fresh guidelines to states to contain the
spread of the disease.

"For the past 3-4 days we were in the process of formulating fresh guidelines to deal with the issue. Some changes have been made in the existing guidelines," the minister told reporters in New Delhi.

The family of 14-year old Rida Shaikh, who succumbed to the disease on Monday, said, they would sue the private
hospital where the girl was admitted.

"The family wants that such a situation should not arise with anybody in future. We will sue the hospital for huge sums
which would be used for charity," a family member said.

"Initially, some antibiotics were given. She recovered and she was fine but fell sick again," he said. In New Delhi, Azad said the death occurred as "the patient was tested late".

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Government invoked the Epidemic Act in Pune and Satara districts to deal with the disease.