Zeenews Bureau
Nashik/Pune: The death toll from Influenza A(H1N1) virus, or swine flu, rose to 14 on Wednesday with two deaths being reported from Maharashtra – one each in Pune and Nashik.
Rupesh Gangurde, a doctor at the Nashik Civil Hospital, died early this morning – the city’s first and the nation’s 14th victim from the swine flu virus.
The 38-year-old doctor died of the viral infection, sources at the Nashik Civil Hospital said. He was admitted to a private hospital on Monday after he complained of vomiting and fever, they said. His blood samples were sent to Pune for testing after which the report tested positive for H1N1.
Gangurde was brought last night to the Civil Hospital where he died at 02:30 hours, they said.
Shrawani Deshpande (29) was India’s 13th swine flu victim. She too died this morning at Pune’s government-run Sassoon General Hospital.
Shrawani died at 02:30 hrs following severe lung infection caused by the virus, attending doctors said. Shrawani, a resident of Kothrud area, was admitted to the Sassoon Hospital in a critical condition on August 10 after being referred from Sashwat Private Hospital, they said.
Earlier, a 35-year-old man had succumbed to the swine flu virus at the Sassoon Hospital late Tuesday. Sanjay Mistry, a resident of Pimpri, near Pune, was admitted to the hospital last Sunday in a critical condition and put on a ventilator.
The total number of swine flu casualties in Maharashtra has now gone up to 10. Two more people have died of swine flu in Gujarat and one each in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Currently, there are five critical patients at Pune’s Sassoon Hospital, three at Delhi’s RML and another two at a Mumbai hospital.
Centre, states gear up
Meanwhile, as the Centre and the states intensified their battle against the infection, Central teams have been dispatched to all states and Union Territories after Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad chaired a meeting of 35 Additional Secretaries and Joint Secretaries drawn from various ministries who would fan out across the country.
He briefed the teams personally yesterday before they were dispatched to the state capitals.
While 14 Additional Secretaries would go to the big states, the Joint Secretaries would go to other states and Union Territories. The teams would stay there for two-three days and would return by August 15.
Azad also spoke to all Chief Ministers and told them to step up preparedness.
The Health Minister requested the Chief Ministers to chair the first meeting of these teams so that on-the-spot decisions are taken for swift implementation, a senior Health Ministry official said.
The Central teams will discuss with state governments new guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare with record to capacity building issues such as identification of labs for testing and hospitals in private and public sectors for screening, diagnosis and treatment of swine flu patients.
Azad also underlined the guidelines to help private labs and hospitals carry out tests and treat suspected patients. The government had earlier insisted that all patients have to be tested and treated only in state-run hospitals but the enormity of the crisis has forced a change of mind.
Tuesday sees most cases
On Tuesday, a record 119 people tested positive, with the virus spreading to cities like Jammu, Osmanabad, Nagpur, Nasik and Manipal. Of the 1,079 positive cases in India, 589 have been discharged, Health Ministry officials said.
Pune tops the list of casualties with seven deaths followed by Mumbai (two) and one each in Nashik, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Vadodara and Thiruvanathapuram.
Of the 119 positive cases reported Tuesday, Pune, which has been declared the epidemic city, reported 62. It was followed by Mumbai where 24 new cases were recorded.
Swine flu cast a shadow over the World Badminton Championship in Hyderabad, with the doubles coach of the Malaysian team showing symptoms of the viral disease.
Jeremy Gan has been quarantined at the Andhra Pradesh Chest Hospital, and his samples have been sent for testing, organisers of the event said.
With swine flu spreading panic, face masks are flying off the shelf at pharmacy shops in the national capital. Chemists say they are not getting fresh supplies that are being diverted to Pune.
A 17-year-old footballer, S Tongber, from Meghalaya Tuesday tested positive for H1N1 virus, marking the first swine flu case in the Northeast.
