Chandigarh man dies of Swine flu at Mohali hospital

Gurmeet Singh, a resident of sector-36 in Chandigarh is the first reported death from H1N1 in Mohali this year.

Gurmeet was suffering from Swine flu and other chronic ailments when he was admitted to the hospital, on Aug. 20, where he died of cardiac arrest.

He was kept in the isolation ward and was being treated by a team of doctors from Critical Care department headed by Dr Amit Kumar Mandal.

Confirming the death, a Fortis Hospital spokesperson said, “The patient was brought to the hospital on August 20 in a very critical condition. He was admitted with high blood pressure, pneumonitis and plural effusion. He was diagnosed as H1N1 positive and was put on ventilator from the first day. He died of cardiac arrest.”

First death in the tricity
This is the fourth influenza related casualty from Punjab, Himachal and the UT and the first from the city.

So far, nine suspected cases of the influenza have been reported from Mohali whereas altogether 57 suspected cases have been reported from the tricity, of which 3 were confirmed positive.

Last year the region had lost 55 lives to the virus, eight of them being from the tricity alone.

The total number of H1N1 cases had reached a toll of 150 in the region last year.

As a preventive method to curb the virus, preventive medication was distributed to all those who attended the cremation of the deceased by the health department.

"Our rapid response team distributed personal protective equipment, which included gloves, plastic coats, head covers and N-95 face masks to close relatives of the deceased," said Abha Rana, UT's nodal officer for swine flu.

Word of advice
Washing your hands frequently and trying to stay in good health can help us in preventing the virus.

In order to abstain from catching the flu, avoid touching surfaces that may be contaminated, besides avoiding close contact with people having respiratory illnesses.

Get plenty of sleep, be physically active, manage your stress, drink plenty of fluids, and eat nutritious food, suggest doctors.

Abrupt rising of the body temperature, body aches, chills, breathlessness emerging within few hours, pain in the joints, headache, runny nose, sore throat, loss of appetite, aching muscles, diarrhea or vomiting are some of the major symptoms of the influenza.