Mumbai: The first suspected H1N1-related death of this month was reported in the civic-run KEM Hospital on Sunday. The patient, 26-year-old Danishta Idrees Khan, was a resident of New Bhim Nagar transit camp in Deonar, Govandi.
The doctor who treated Khan said she had diabetes and her swap report revealed the presence of H1N1 virus with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).
“Khan, who was admitted on 8th of this month, was under medical supervision. She expired on Saturday night in the Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU),” the doctor added.
Dr Padmaja Keskar, the city’s executive health officer, however, said she needed to get the report from the Death Review Committee (DRC) and would be able to elaborate on whether the death was due to swine flu or not. She said, “We will investigate the case of Khan in the committee and then provide proper information.”
So far, only two confirmed deaths due to H1N1 virus in the city have been reported from January to June. As per recent data shared by the state public health department, a patient from Pune is on the ventilator while 191 deaths were registered statewide between January and June. However, around 1,745 were diagnosed with H1N1 and nearly 30,000 were vaccinated against influe-nza in this period.
Most of the cases in Maharashtra were reported from Nashik that has recorded the highest number of deaths (36), followed by Nagpur (25), Ahmednagar (16), Pune (13), Kolhapur (9) and Mumbai (2). Dr Pradeep Awate, state surveillance officer, said over 22,906 people were given oseltamivir pills, an antiviral medication was used to treat influenza A and influenza B between January and mid-July. “More than 70 patients have been admitted to various hospitals across the state while 1,511 patients have been discharged,” he said.
Swine flu, a respiratory infection caused by influenza viruses with symptoms such as cold, cough and fever, generally spreads rapidly during winters. However, there has been a spike in cases across India even as warmer weather as well.
