25-year-old woman dies of swine flu in Uttar Pradesh

Jyoti Singh, a 25-year-old woman hailing from Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh succumbed to the influenza, taking the death toll due to the virus in the state to five this year.

According to close relatives, Jyoti was travelling in Rajasthan with family and friends between June 30 and July 9. On returning home to Barabanki, she fell ill and complained of breathlessness, cough, cold, and fever.

Initially, Jyoti was under medication at a private hospital in Ram Sanehi Ghat area of Barabanki, but since there was no improvement she was shifted to a private medical college where she was treated for another three days.

Jyoti was brought to Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University (CSMMU) on July 16 in a critical condition.

Admitted in ICU in critical condition
She was admitted in the intensive care unit of the emergency ward as a patient of bilateral pneumonia. Doctors also suspected dengue as her platelet count was fast reducing.

On testing positive for swine flu on Sunday, Jyoti was immediately put on Tamiflu, but by then it was too late and she died of multiple organ failure on Monday afternoon.

Dr AK Chowdhury CMO Barabanki stated, "Since her platelet count was quite low and she was bleeding profusely from the nose. The doctors assumed that she was suffering with dengue.

"Pathological tests' reports which came on Sunday morning confirmed swine-flu. She was put on swine flu treatment but did not improve and finally succumbed.”

Meanwhile, as a precautionary measure all the people who had been in close contact with Jyoti have been put on Tamiflu.

H1N1 update in the country since outbreak in mid-June 2009
According to official figures released on July 18 by the health ministry, 1,646 people have died and 1,315 sickened due to the virus in the country since the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared swine flu as a pandemic in mid-June last year.

To date, samples from 147,250 people have been tested for H1N1 in government and private laboratories with 34,115 of them testing positive.

During the past fortnight, 21 succumbed to the virus in various parts of the country.

These included 11 in Maharashtra, 8 in Kerala and one each in Gujarat and Delhi. This includes one death that occurred in Maharashtra earlier but was reported now.

In addition, 332 fresh cases surfaced during the week including 121 in Kerala, 102 in Maharashtra and 43 in Karnataka. All the cases with an exception of one are indigenous.