PRIVATE hospitals were yesterday threatened with closure if they undermined Bahrain's efforts to keep swine flu at bay.

They have also been ordered to set up isolation units immediately after it emerged several were yet to do so.

The warning came after one private medical facility, which hasn't been named, sent a patient home after he showed up with flu symptoms and revealed he had just returned from the US.

It also follows the announcement that the UAE has confirmed its first case of swine flu.

Health authorities have already issued a written warning to the hospital that discharged the Bahraini student, instead of putting him in isolation immediately.

The Health Ministry was only informed of the case after he returned to the same hospital a day later with high fever.

The GDN reported yesterday that he was then admitted to a hastily set-up isolation unit and only discharged after tests for the H1N1 virus came back negative.

"This was a blunder and should not have happened," said ministry public relations director Adel Ali Abdulla.

"We have now reiterated to all medical facilities to take every possible step to prevent such an incident from happening and follow the protocol that has been laid out by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

"If any hospital or clinic is found to be deficient in any way, action will be taken.

"If the hospital, God forbid, is found to be responsible of discharging a swine flu positive case, it could face severe penalties and possible suspension of its licence."

He said the fact that some hospitals and clinics still did not have isolation facilities was a major concern.

"They have been directed to set these up immediately and face inspections," he added.

Mr Abdulla said surveillance had been stepped up in Bahrain as a result of swine flu cases being detected in the UAE and Kuwait, bringing the illness virtually to the country's doorstep.

"A case has been confirmed in the UAE and there have been cases in Kuwait - that has made us raise our surveillance level," he added.

He said vigilance had now been increased at Bahrain International Airport, Shaikh Khalifa Port and at King Fahad Causeway.

Bahrain is also targeting US military personnel for screening, following reports that 18 US soldiers had been diagnosed with the H1N1 virus and treated.

"We have started fast-tracking US servicemen returning to Bahrain because that makes it easy to screen them," said Mr Abdulla.

All US servicemen arriving at the airport must now go through the crew gates before they are screened.

"Those who arrive in Bahrain at the US Navy facility are also screened by the US authorities, but under the overall supervision of (Health) ministry staff."

Mr Abdulla said Bahrain was treating anyone suffering from flu symptoms and returning from a swine flu-affected area as automatic suspects.

Even those who have come into contact with people returning from an infected area are being targeted.

"Doctors and staff should be asking everyone with flu symptoms where they have been in the last few days," he said.

"This was allegedly not done by the private hospital (that discharged the Bahraini student)."

Bahrain's first suspected case of the swine flu was reported on April 30 after an American, travelling via Bahrain International Airport, was discovered with high fever.

The 40-year-old man, who reportedly came from Florida via Frankfurt, Germany, was discovered as he was passing through the airport's thermal cameras.

He was first transferred to a private hospital, before being moved to the quarantine ward at Salmaniya Medical Complex.

He was discharged after tests for swine flu came back negative. mandeep@gdn.com.bh