THIRD DEATH DUE TO SWINE FLUE IN PUNE

           THIRD DEATH DUE TO SWINE FLUE IN PUNE

With the death of 58-year-old Shubhangi Kulkarni on Friday16th,March,2012, swine flu claimed its third victim this year in Pune.She was admitted in the city's Dinanath Mangeshkar Hospital on Monday and had been tested positive for the H1N1(A) virus on Thursday. Six more persons tested positive on Friday, taking the total number of people who have tested positive for the virus to 25, district health officials said. Out of these, five patients are critical and are being treated in various city hospitals.Sham Satpute, Assistant Medical Officer, said that Ms. Kulkarni was diabetic and suffered from hypertension. “She had not taken any medication for three days, in spite of respiratory problems. When she was admitted, she was immediately put on Tamiflu, and her swab was sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) for testing. She tested positive on Thursday,” he said. Ms. Kulkarni died on Friday morning.

With this, the swine flu has claimed six lives in the State since April last. On Wednesday, 48-year-old Kanta Sarode, who also had pancreatitis, died of swine flu. On Thursday, a 51-year-old Shrikant Shinde died after fighting the virus in the ICU of a city hospital for 10 days.Pune, which was the epicentre of swine flu outbreak in 2009, is witnessing a sudden spurt in cases after a gap of 11 months, the last death being reported in April 2011.

“The reason for this as being stated by the NIV is the change in weather conditions. Extreme hot weather during the day and cold temperature at night makes it favourable for the virus to spread,” Dr. Satpute said.

State swine flu surveillance officer Pradip Awate said that there was no reason to panic. “Measures are being stepped up, and more vulnerable patients are being identified,” he stated.

                                                                       Prof. John Kurakar