05/02/2015
H1N1 returns to Mumbai, 24% mortality in state
After a lull of over 15 months, the dreaded swine flu virus has returned to the city. A 65-year-old Mulund resident is battling for life. He is among four people to test positive for the virus in the last few days. A nine-year-old girl from Santacruz is among the patients. The virus, which created a global pandemic in 2009, has swept across states, claiming nearly 200 lives in the country since January.
The high fatality rate of the virus in the state has health officials on edge. Among 96 patients in Maharashtra, as many as 23 have succumbed to the virus. On Tuesday, TOI reported the death of Palghar resident Matilda Almeida (61) in Andheri's Holy Spirit Hospital. As a preventive step, blood samples of her family members have been sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune. This is the first H1N1 death in Palghar district this year.
"The mortality rate has been fairly high, at around 24%. Among the deceased, only about 50% had co-morbid conditions such as hypertension and diabetes. Nagpur has lost the most number of lives, followed by Pune," said state epidemiologist Dr Pradeep Awate.
BMC's epidemiologist Dr Mangala Gomare said all patients from Mumbai, barring the senior citizen from Mulund, who is on ventilator, are stable. "A 54-year-old woman admitted to Kasturba Hospital is also doing well," she said.
The civic machinery has started gearing up for another wave of the virus. While circulars for alertness have already been sent to ward offices, posters for citizens are soon going to be up. "We will be alerting doctors that they should be cautious. However, the drug oseltamivir is still effective. So, there is no need to panic," said Gomare. She added that a 55-year-old woman from Bandra has recovered from the virus after being treated on OPD basis.
A 34-year-old woman from Nalasopara in Palghar district continues to be critical and on ventilator at Jaslok Hospital, Peddar Road. "Most of her organs have been badly affected," said Dr Om Srivastava, head of infectious diseases, Jaslok Hospital. He said Mumbai is always vulnerable to the spread of viruses, given the huge inflow of people and also many trying to access the city's healthcare services.
Srivastava said that while speculations are on about the rapid spread of the virus this year, an antigenic shift (the process by which two or more strains of a virus, or strains of two or more different viruses, combine to form a new subtype) could be at the root of it. "It is of course subject to research, but there is a huge possibility of that."
