Males more prone to swine flu, says civic health department

Mumbai: With an increase in the number of swine flu cases in the city, an interesting fact has come into fore. It has been found that 56 per cent of the infected patients are male.

The reason for the same, according to a senior BMC health official, is that the number of males travelling and being exposed to air-borne infections is higher than females. It has also been stated that the most of these patients fall under the age group of 15 to 44.  

The civic body is now concentrating on preventing the spread of air-borne infections like swine flu. In a committee meeting held on Monday to review the 15 deaths of swine flu infected patients in the city since January, it was found that while 9 of the patients had died because of the H1N1 virus, deaths of 5 of the couldn’t certainly be attributed to just this virus as there might be other contributing reasons for their death.

While the people in the city are battling the virus with all their might, conditions in other parts of the state aren’t very encouraging either. The worst affected areas being Pune, Nashik and Aurangabad. So far, over 2,000 cases and 263 deaths have been reported in the state since January.

In order to curb the menace of the virus, Dr Padmaja Keskar, BMC’s executive health officer has listed a few precautions for the citizens. “Consult your doctor immediately if you have any symptom like fever, cough or throat infection and take medicines as prescribed by the doctor. You must also drink plenty of liquids and consume food that’s rich in Vitamin C. Most importantly, avoid self medication.”

The rise in case numbers

According the BMC, there were 491 confirmed cases of swine flu in Mumbai, out which in 383 cases, the patients are city residents while 108 are non-Mumbai residents. So far, over 2,000 cases and 263 deaths have been reported from the state this year, while 15 deaths have been recorded in Mumbai.