COIMBATORE: Collector T N Hariharan on Saturday strictly instructed all private hospitals and clinics not to refer patients in critical stages to government hospital.Private laboratories have also been instructed not to test patients for H1N1 without doctor’s prescription, especially those without co-morbid conditions or breathing difficulties.The collector has appealed to hospitals not to admit H1N1 patients without above complications. Instead, the hospitals should prescribe home isolation and oseltamivir tablets.The collector held a meeting with representatives of private hospitals and clinics, along with Coimbatore Medical College Hospital dean Dr B Ashokan and deputy director public health Dr Bhanumathy on Friday.“We have instructed hospitals not to refer patients in a later stage to the GH,” said Dr Bhanumathy. One of the reasons behind the high death toll in the district is believed to be late referrals by smaller hospitals and clinics to tertiary care hospitals.Doctors have also been asked to start treating patients with even a “influenza like illness” on oseltamivir without having them tested for H1N1.“Patients have been divided into three categories - A, B and C. Category A is just a flu-like illness, B is flu-like illness with co-morbid conditions and category C is flu-like symptoms with breathing difficulty,” said the director. “Of this, we have asked doctors to start patients in category A and B on oseltamivir without testing for the virus. These patients can be treated and managed at home itself,” she said.“Only category C patients with co-morbid conditions and breathing difficulty need hospitalization,” she added.Hospitals have also been asked to isolate H1N1 virus cases from “suspected H1N1 virus cases”. “All patients on oseltamivir will be considered as H1N1 patients but suspected H1N1 virus patients, not yet initiated into oseltamivir and antibiotics will be segregated,” said a health officer.

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