Till recently, only samples of hospitalised and critically ill patients were tested for H1N1 virus (swine flu). However, with as many as 4,350 cases and 449 deaths being reported across the state, private laboratories on Wednesday made a strong case for making such tests available to non-hospitalised patients with suspected H1N1 symptoms, too. Initially, Pune-based National Institute of Virology (NIV) was the sole laboratory, which was testing throat swab samples to confirm the H1N1 virus. However, with the increasing number of patients, the state designated as many as 23 laboratories, such as SRL, Golwilkar, among others, to perform the tests. The commercially available test kit is validated by NIV and provided to the laboratories to conduct tests to confirm or rule out the presence of H1N1 virus.

Source: Indian Express August 24, 2017 03:33 UTC