Authorities rule out swine flu in 5 Santiago patients

SANTIAGO.- Tests performed on five patients that are currently hospitalized at the National Torso Institute (Instituto Nacional del Tórax) after displaying symptoms similar to those of swine flu have ruled out the illness in all of the cases.

Health officials confirmed the information and stated that the five individuals will be discharged from the medical center sometime after noon today.

In addition to the five potential cases in Santiago, Ministry of Health officials have up until now confirmed one possible case of the illness in Atacama, one in Valparaíso, one in Coyhaique and another in the Araucanía Region.

Several people, primarily arriving from Mexico and the United States, have been sent to the medical center to undergo voluntary exams designed to rule out the presence of the virus.

Blood tests to detect the swine flu virus –which are being done only at Calvo Mackenna Hospital— begin with a screening for the presence of flu viruses A or B, parainfluenza 123, the syncitial virus and the metapneumovirus.

A second test is then performed to once again detect the A or B influenza virus. If the second test comes back positive, the results are sent to the Public Health Institute, which then remits them to the United States to be confirmed.