Turkish hospital discharges swine flu patient before confirming tests

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

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The 27-year-old Turkish man, who arrived in the country from Australia, was admitted to a hospital in the northwestern province of Tekirdag after displaying flu symptoms last week.

He was placed in quarantine and was under observation for three hours, Dogan News Agency, or DHA, said.

The man was discharged from hospital after the test results of his wife, who was admitted to an Istanbul hospital showing similar symptoms, returned negative for the deadly virus, head of the local health authority in Tekirdag, Ugur Caglayan told DHA.

"His wife had also been admitted to a hospital in Istanbul, but no swine flu virus was detected. This led us to think that the man had the same strain of flu as his wife and we discharged him," he said.

Laboratory tests, however, later tests showed the patient was infected with H1N1, the formal name for swine flu.

The victim is currently under supervision of doctors and receiving medical care and is in good health, Dogan News Agency reported, citing governor's office.

The incident brought the total number of cases in the country to 24.

The World Health Organization says a total of 55,867 cases and 238 deaths were confirmed globally as of Wednesday.

Photo: DHA