Four more swine flu deaths; 16 on ventilator support

PUNE: The health department on Tuesday confirmed  http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/four-more-swine-flu-deaths" rel="nofollow - four more swine flu deaths . All four were local residents and one of them was an eight-year-old girl. Casualties have risen to 24 so far since January.

The condition of 16 more people diagnosed with swine flu is critical and they have been placed on ventilator support.

A 47-year-old man, a resident of  http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Bajirao-Road" rel="nofollow - Bajirao Road , developed swine flu-induced pneumonia with acute respiratory distress syndrome and died at  http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Ruby-Hall-Clinic" rel="nofollow - Ruby Hall Clinic  at 10.30pm on Monday. He had other underlying medical conditions including diabetes and hypertension.

A 38-year-old man, a resident of Wadgaon Sheri, developed ARDS with heart valve dysfunction and died at Columbia Asia hospital in Kharadi at 8.52pm on Monday. He had undergone angioplasty two years ago.

An eight-year-old girl from Ganj Peth developed breathlessness and fever and died at  http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/KEM-Hospital" rel="nofollow - KEM Hospital  on March 23. Her throat swab, taken on March 23 and sent to  http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/National-Institute-of-Virology" rel="nofollow - National Institute of Virology , tested positive for swine flu on Monday.

A 36-year-old man from Sinhagad Road, developed swine flu induced pneumonitis and died at Deenanath Mangeshkar hospital at 12.55pm on Tuesday.

Of the 24 deaths, 16 patients who had succumbed to swine flu were from adjacent areas. They were referred to hospitals in Pune.

Over two lakh people have already been screened for influenza-related illness. Among them, 2,825 were administered Tamiflu when they were suspected to have contracted the infection.

Experts have attributed the rise in cases to the significant gap in day and night temperatures. Those with weak immune systems or medical conditions like diabetes are more vulnerable to the  http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/H1N1" rel="nofollow - H1N1 .