New Delhi, Aug 13 - When Delhi resident Radhika Singh's 15-year-old son developed fever and cough - symptoms similar to swine flu - she took him to a doctor who told her to go for a simple influenza test. But that is not a good idea, say experts.

'The test came negative and the doctor told me that my child need not go for the H1N1 virus test,' Singh told IANS.

However, experts and doctors dealing with swine flu are stressing that such tests are unreliable and are not recommended to detect the H1N1 virus.

'It is a rapid test which is not at all reliable. It is cheaper, a simple blood test, but in no way indicates whether a person is affected with swine flu or not,' Randeep Guleria, head of medicine at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), told IANS.

Citing Reeda Shaikh's example, Guleria said a lab had carried out the simple influenza test, which had come out negative, although the 14-year-old girl was infected with the H1N1 virus.

'When the H1N1 test was finally done by the NIV (National Institute of Virology), it came out positive for swine flu,' he said. Shaikh, who died Aug 3 at a private hospital in Pune, was India's first swine flu fatality.

So far, 20 people have died of the disease and over 1,000 people have been infected with the H1N1 virus in India.

'One needs to understand that such tests are not right.