Mumbai: After affecting other states, swine flu has started haunting Maharashtra again. In yet another casualty, a 70-year old Borivali resident succumbed to the disease while seeking treatment at Kasturba Hospital in Chinchpokli at 5.30 am on Thursday.
This is the fourth swine flu death in the city in one week. Over 23 others have been detected in the state since January 19. Out of these, 10 are from Mumbai while 13 others are from other parts of the state.
In all, the state has registered over 113 cases with 27 deaths since January this year. Maximum fatalities have been reported in Nagpur with 50 patients contracting the disease and seven dying of it in the last one month.
The last victim to succumb to the disease from a different part of the state was a 43-year old woman from Pune who died during her treatment at a private hospital on Wednesday evening.
Explaining the condition of the patient admitted at Kasturba Hospital, Dr Om Shrivastava, director of department of infectious disease, Jaslok Hospital, who treated the patient at Kasturba Hospital, said, “She was admitted with us early this week with a stable condition and chances of her survival looked possible. She just had a patch of pneumonia in her lungs. However, her condition started going downhill last night and she was put on a ventilator, later succumbing to the disease.”
Other than her, over two more patients have also been admitted to Kasturba Hospital, Chinchpokli. While a 40-year old patient has been kept on ventilator in the hospital, the other one is stable and in the solitary ward. Both had influenza fever when they visited the facility and were detected with the virus.
Dr Mangala Gomare, epidemiologist, BMC, said, “Isolated units have been created at different hospitals and all patients are being provided with due care under experienced doctors. Their progress is being recorded at every level,” she said, adding that prolonged winter was one of the reasons for the disease’s spread.
The state government also confirmed that they are looking after every case very closely to prevent further spread. “Special isolated wards have been created at the district and public hospitals. We have made sure that the medications are also well stocked. Every patient with swine flu-like symptoms is being put through the necessary tests,” said Dr Pradeep Awate, state epidemiologist.
