First H1N1 death in Mumbai: Swine flu claims pregnant woman

Mumbai: Swine flu claimed the first life in the city yesterday, with a 23-year-old woman from Dhule succumbing to the H1N1 virus at JJ hospital, a day after delivering a dead foetus eight months into pregnancy. Trushali Laxman Divade was rushed to JJ hospital on Tuesday, after doctors treating her at Dhule suspected that she had contracted the deadly virus.

She came to the facility with bilateral pneumonia leading to severe respiratory distress. Doctors immediately put her on ventilator and a regimen of Tamiflu, and sent her throat swabs to Haffkine Institute for lab testing. The test reports arrived hours after she died around 11:30 pm at the hospital's critical care unit.

Dr Shailesh Jadhav, head of the medicine department at JJ hospital, was attending to Trushali. He said, "She was referred to JJ from Dhule. She had acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and was immediately put on ventilator. We will fumigate the side room where we had admitted her, if need be."

Divade went into labour on Wednesday, but suffered an intra-uterine foetal demise, leading to a stillbirth, doctors said. "Pregnant women are in the high risk group, as there immunity is already compromised. The patient had complications, and a lot of doctors had attended to her. We will have to put them all on a Tamiflu regimen as a precautionary measure," said a senior doctor from JJ hospital.

Dr Abhay Chaudhary, director, Haffkine institute, said, "The patient had a co-morbid condition. We had received her sample, but it is only this (Thursday) evening that her reports have come in, which confirm that she was H1N1 positive." Asked if the medical staff who have come in close contact with Divade need to be put on Tamiflu, Chaudhary said, "If any one of them exhibits H1N1-like symptoms like running nose, sore throat, fever etc they should be put on Tamiflu. There is no need for testing. People should not panic as this death has occurred in a high-risk group patient."

14 cases so far
The number of swine flu positive cases in the city rose to 14 yesterday, since March, after a 28-year-old woman from Andheri and a 37-year-old man from Sewri tested positive for H1N1. Dr Mangala Gomare, BMC's epidemiology head, said, "Both have tested positive and they are taking medications on OPD basis from private doctors. They are doing absolutely fine."

845
Number of people in the city tested positive of HIN1 in 2010-11

1,761
Number of people in the city tested positive in 2009-10

High-risk groups
Those suffering from airway diseases like coughs, colds, and runny noses
Patients who are on steroids
Patients who are immuno-compromised
Pregnant women and children

H1N1 symptoms
Mucus discharge from nostrils
Fever
Sore throat

H1N1 case dies of heart failure
A 45-year-old man from Bhiwandi, who had been admitted to Kasturba hospital and tested positive for H1N1 on April 6, died of a cardiac arrest at Nair hospital, according to civic officials. In a re-test, however, he had tested negative for H1N1. He was admitted to the isolation facility at Kasturba following repeated complaints of respiratory distress. On Tuesday, he was shifted to Nair hospital for cardiac problems. "He had already completed his Tamiflu regimen. The death was caused by a cardiac arrest. When we shifted him to Nair hospital, he was tested again and the test reports came out negative." said Dr Anil Bandivdekar, executive health officer, BMC. Talking about preventative measures for people who have been in touch with swine flu patients, he said, "In patients who test positive for H1N1, we do contact tracing. And only if the contacts exhibit symptoms of H1N1 are they tested and given Tamiflu. The guidelines say that Tamiflu medication should be administered judiciously."