Flu deaths mount to 11, cases cross 1,000-mark

Maharashtra allows eight private hospitals to treat patients.

Swine flu deaths continued unabated on Tuesday with two girls, a 63-year-old woman and a 35-year-old man succumbing to the deadly virus, taking the countrywide toll to 11, even as the Centre asked the states to take urgent steps to tackle the pandemic.

The total number of confirmed swine flu cases across the country today crossed the 1,000-mark.

Vadodara in Gujarat reported its first flu victim when a seven-year-old girl, Arya Borde, who was in a critical condition, died due to the viral disease, Sir Sayajirao Gaekwad Hospital Medical Superintendent Atul Saxena said.

“She was on ventilator support since August 7...The result of H1N1 test was confirmed on August 8. She became critical today morning and passed away at 12.30 pm,” Principal Health Secretary Ravi Saxena said.

In Pune, the worst-hit city in Maharashtra, 13-year-old Shruti Gawade, a student of Ahilyadevi School, succumbed to the disease. She had been kept on ventilator since August 7 at government-owned Sassoon Hospital, where she was brought from a private hospital in a critical condition, said Pandurang Pawar, medical superintendent of Sassoon hospital.

On Monday, the Maharashtra government had ordered the closure of all educational institutions and cinema halls in Pune and its sister city, Pimpri-Chinchwad, to arrest further spread of the disease. The total number of H1N1 infections in Pune on Tuesday stood at 221, while the numbers were 81 and 31 in case of Mumbai and Satara, respectively.

The state government, in a crucial announcement today, allowed eight private hospitals to treat H1N1-infected patients. “The number of infected people is growing and, hence, we have decided to allow private hospitals to treat patients as per the guidelines of the government hospitals,” an official told Business Standard.

Sayeeda Dorheewala, a 63-year-old woman, died at a private hospital in south Mumbai as a result of swine flu. The woman, who was from Mumbra in Thane district, had been hospitalised with fever in Noor Hospital on August 6 and had tested positive along with other complications, according to the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai.

In the first case of death due to swine flu in Kerala, a 35-year-old man succumbed to the disease at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram. The victim, Wilson Lukose, was admitted to the hospital six days ago with high fever and other symptoms of swine flu.

With deaths on the rise, Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has spoken to 22 chief ministers, informing them of the steps the Centre is taking to tackle the spread of the disease and the guidelines framed for allowing private labs and hospitals to conduct tests and treat suspected cases.