The Kansas Department of Health and Environment announced Wednesday a change to its testing procedures for the swine flu virus.

It is no longer accepting specimens from everyone who sees a doctor with symptoms.

KDHE will continue collecting specimens from hospitalized patients as well as a limited number of specimens from a network of clinics and hospitals across the state that are submitting weekly information on the number of patients they are seeing with flu-like symptoms. Those sites also will submit a random sample of specimens from patients, for testing that will allow KDHE to monitor the spread of disease in the state.

Testing these random samples alone will stretch the state’s lab capacity to the limit this fall and winter, said Dr. Jason Eberhart-Phillips, state health officer.

“In nonhospitalized cases, any confirmatory testing we do would not affect the treatment and advice given to patients by health care providers,” he added.