A Dutch woman was rushed to Sanglah General Hospital immediately upon her arrival at Ngurah Rai International Airport after suspected of displaying symptoms of the H1N1 flu.
The woman was identified as 32-year-old Michelle Vandorssen and is currently being treated at the hospital's Nusa Indah isola-tion ward.
The state airport operator PT Angkasa Pura I general manager Heru Legowo disclosed that Vandorssen was a passenger on Malaysia Airlines flight MH 715 departing from Kuala Lumpur.
When the plane approached Bali, the pilot contacted the tower and informed officials that a passenger had taken ill and had thrown up several times.
He also notified the tower the passenger was a transit passenger from the Netherlands, which is on the list of H1N1 flu sites.
"The pilot didn't want to take any chances and asked the tower to take the necessary measures *in dealing with a passenger displaying H1N1 flu symptoms*," Heru said.
The airport authority immediately alerted its medical team.
The team rushed to the tarmac with medical equipment suitable for handling individuals suspected of having the H1N1 virus.
When the plane landed at 12:48 p.m., other passengers were told to disembark. The team then boarded the plane and examined Vandorssen's condition.
She was later sent to Sanglah Hospital by an awaiting ambulance.
"She could still walk into the ambulance by herself so her condition was not as bad as we initially imagined," Heru stressed.
"*She* only threw up several times, it doesn't necessarily mean she has H1N1 flu."
The ambulance reached Sanglah at 1:13 pm.
"For the time being, we will treat her in the isolation room to prevent possible viral transmission," head of Sanglah's bird flu team, Ken Wirasandhi, said.
The hospital has also moved 12 patients out of the Nusa Indah ward to another ward as a precautionary measure.
The Nusa Indah ward was designed and built to treat patients diagnosed with deadly and infectious diseases.
"So far the patient has not shown symptoms of H1N1," Ken said.
"Her temperature and blood pressure are all normal, she has only complained of a pain in her throat."
Ken stressed the patient had not officially been declared an H1N1 suspect.
"The term we are using right now is *influenza-like illness'," he said.
The hospital has taken samples from the patient and sent them to Udayana University's biomolecular laboratory and the Health Ministry's laboratory in Jakarta.
"The results will arrive in a few days," Ken said.
The hospital has also dispatched a team to conduct observations of passengers who sat near Vandorssen during the flight.
