Pune: The National Institute of Virology (NIV) gets more than 600 swab tests each day when it has a capacity to handle just about 300. So, from a 24-hour deadline for the test results it now takes a good 60 hours.
Authorities now want to limit the number of tests they take and instead focus on studying the behaviour of the virus.
It was two-year-old Issac's third trip to Naidu Hospital in the last 48 hours. He has fever, a sore throat, and he's breathless.
His parents Tina and Srini are all the more worried because they stay in the same lane as Dr Baba Mane, Pune's third swine flu victim.
"We don't even know if he's positive or negative. We are just giving him ordinary flu medicines like Crocin," said Srini Nair.
"Our GP said there were cases from our area. I don't know what to do," said Tina Nair.
Like the Nairs, many others are spending anxious hours outside Pune's Naidu Hospital, waiting for a list that will tell them if they have the swine flu. And their wait has been made longer by an overburdened NIV.
NIV has the capacity to test about 300 samples, and is getting on an average three times that number daily. Officials say they would rather focus on studying the way the virus is behaving rather than test each and every sample. The result - it's taking over 60 hours for results to be sent back, considerably longer than the earlier 24-hour period.
"The state government has decided symptomatic treatment can begin. Not all samples need to be checked. Treatment can begin even before test results come in if the patient shows severe symptoms. We want to see in the larger scheme of things how the virus is behaving," said NIV director Dr A C Mishra.
"The NCID and the NIV people together decided that there was no reason to wait for test result and that patients can be started on treatment as soon as the symptoms arise. We are doing that," said Chandrakant Dalvi, collector, Pune.
Families like the Nairs will be hoping that decision kicks in quickly, and children like Issac get the attention they need when they need it most.