Maharashtra sees highest swine flu cases in 2015
Friday, 21 August 2015
Maharashtra has seen 6,096 swine flu cases and 592 deaths till Thursday in 2015. This is the highest so far in the state.
Public health department officials say that the numbers may climb in case of an extended monsoon and low October heat.
On Thursday, two swine flu and one dengue deaths were confirmed by the BMC. A 64-year-old man from Goregaon is the latest victim. He was admitted to the BMC-run Siddharth Hospital in Goregaon on August 15, and succumbed three days later. Also, a 54-year-old man from Thane, who was later shifted to Seven Hills Hospital in Andheri East, died of swine flu on August 19.
Thirty-eight persons have died of swine flu in Mumbai since the beginning of 2015. In August alone, 344 cases of H1N1 and 11 deaths have been recorded in the city. Also, a 13-year-old boy from Govandi died of dengue shock syndrome on August 13, stated the report.
Fifty three 53 persons have died of swine flu in Mumbai from January 1 to Thursday, the second highest in Maharashtra after Nagpur city (70).
According to the state health department, 2010 saw 6,118 swine flu cases and 669 fatalities. The first swine flu death in India—a 14-year-old girl—was recorded in Pune in 2009.
This year, the highest toll is reported from Nagpur city (70), Mumbai (53), Pune city (49), Nashik (45), Pune rural (40) and Thane (32). A total of 39 patients are on ventilator support, including nine from Mumbai, 13 in Pune and 11 in Nashik. The deaths also include 33 patients from outside Maharashtra.
In contrast, just 42 positive cases and six deaths were reported in 2011. In 2012, there were 1,560 cases and 135 fatalities. In 2013, though the number of patients testing positive for the virus fell to 643, deaths rose marginally to 149. Last year, 43 deaths and 115 cases were reported.
“There were unseasonal showers in February and March, leading to a fall in temperatures and creating conditions conducive for the flare-up of the disease,” said a senior state health department official, adding that patients from neighbouring states also came to cities like Nagpur for treatment.
“August and September see high number of swine flu cases. In case of heavy rains in September, and if the October heat does not set in intensely, we are at risk. However, August has not seen any massive number of swine flu cases so far,” the official added.
Swine flu is a viral disease caused by the H1N1 virus. Its symptoms include fever, cough, body ache, loose motion and general weakness.
“There is less field work, supervision and surveillance by the BMC,” admitted an epidemiologist who has done a long stint with the civic body, adding that the public health system also needed to step up information, education and communication (IEC) activities. He pointed to how the strategy had succeeded with HIV.
“This (swine flu) is something that should be taken seriously,” said Dr Om Srivastava, consultant.
The state has also decided to vaccinate high-risk groups like doctors, health workers, people with hypertension, HIV, diabetes, obesity or children with asthma, lung problems and compromised immunity, pregnant women and also the general population. This, officials said, would lead a fall in the fatalities.
It is planning to supply vaccines to private hospitals and medical practitioners at a cheaper rate to let them inoculate people at a regulated price.
The Maharashtra Communicable Diseases Prevention and Control Technical Committee under former Maharashtra director general, health services (DGHS), Dr Subhash Salunkhe is looking at countering infectious diseases like swine flu and examining mutations in the virus.
As on Thursday, 9,15,895 suspected patients have been screened for the infection. Isolation wards have been created in 128 sub-district hospitals and medical colleges and the state will reimburse the ventilator costs of poor patients.
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