H1N1 virus pushes the death toll in Pune to 24

The latest to fall prey to the deadly disease was a middle aged man Bharat Sahane, a resident of Koregaon (district Satara), who met his untimely end at Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial (YCM) hospital, Pimpri, on Tuesday morning.

The 24th victim
Sahane, suffering from a bout of cough, cold and fever since Aug. 18, was initially being treated by a private practitioner, but then underwent treatment at Shriram hospital in Satara till Aug. 24.

On showing no signs of improvement, Sahane was shifted to Aditya Birla hospital in Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation( PCMC). On his condition deteriorating further, his case was referred to YMC and he was shifted to the isolation ICU in critical condition on Monday.

The patient was put on the ventilator and his throat swab sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) for testing immediately. He passed away at 6.30 a.m. the following day.

Ashok Ladda, joint director of the state health department said the report of this throat swab came after he died. “He had tested positive for the H1N1 influenza,” he said.

Giving some insight into Sahane’s underlying medical condition Ladda disclosed, “He had undergone an angioplasty at a private hospital in the PCMC area last year.”

Meanwhile, R.R. Iyer, medical director, Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, said a girl from Pimpri undergoing treatment at the YCM Hospital had also died on the same day but she turned out to be a negative case of swine flu.

Update of H1N1 in the district
According to the official reports, the hospitals of Pune and PCMC are still grappling with the contagion. In the last 24 hours, 10,190 people were screened across the district out of which 17 positive cases have surfaced.

Nearly 150 suspected cases of H1N1 infection are being monitored, out of which 38 are confirmed cases of swine flu. 51 patients got discharged on Tuesday.

Around 17 patients are in ICU and 12 are stated to be in critical condition. Sassoon has nine patients in ICU and seven have been put on ventilator. Private hospitals in the district have four patients in ICU and two on ventilator. YMC has four in ICU and three on ventilator.

Fatalities in Delhi and Bangalore
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the nation, two deaths linked to H1N1 have been reported, pushing the death toll of the country to 77.

The capital registered its third swine flu death on Tuesday. The victim was a 44-year-old woman from Faridabad who had tested positive for the flu.

In addition a 27-year-old man from Bangalore succumbed to the virus. Another person fell prey to the disease in Latur.