Jalpaiguri, March 3: A 12-year-old schoolboy hailing from Dhupguri town was admitted in Jalpaiguri district hospital with symptoms similar to swine flu.

Doctors said they had collected his swab sample and have sent it to National Institute of Cholera & Enteric Disease (NICED) in Calcutta for confirmatory tests.

Two persons admitted to North Bengal Medical College Hospital have tested positive for H1N1 virus that causes swine flu.

Swine flu is caused by the H1N1 virus which originates in pigs and is mutated to affect humans.

It affects the upper respiratory system and is accompanied by symptoms such as high fever, cough, fatigue, headache, body ache, sore throat, runny nose, breathlessness and loss of appetite.

Swine flu patients are kept in isolation as the infection can spread through cough.

Prakash Mridha, the chief medical officer of health (CMOH) of Jalpaiguri, today said the boy, who is a resident of ward 6 in Dhupguri town, was a Class V student at a private English-medium school in Binnaguri. Dhupguri is 40 km from Jalpaiguri town.

'Since last Saturday, he had fever but he appeared in his final examination. On Monday, school authorities made necessary arrangements so that he could appear for his exam from a sick bed in the school. However, after he came home, he was sneezing,' Rajib, his businessman father, said. 'His private tutor came in the evening but he could not study as he was down with fever and was coughing and sneezing.'

In the evening, he was taken to the block hospital in Dhupguri from where doctors told the family to take the boy to Jalpaiguri district hospital. His parents brought him to Jalpaiguri around 11pm yesterday.

The CMOH said: 'We have kept him in isolation as the symptoms indicate swine flu. We have also collected his swab sample and have sent it to NICED in Calcutta.'

He said: 'There is no reason to panic as arrangements have been made across the district. Quick Response Teams have been formed to curb swine flu. Health officials and staff have been put on alert. We have also held a meeting with doctors in tea estates and authorities in private nursing homes to ensure that any patient with symptoms similar to swine flu and attended and reports should be sent to us,' Mridha said.

The two youths under treatment, Anuj Saikia and Sukhopa Hendrik, were admitted last month. The two youths work as salesmen in Siliguri.

Sources in NBMCH said the two youths were in stable condition can would be released soon.

Over 1,100 people have died of the infection across the country this year.