Delay caused deaths; Govt says no need to panic
A close look at the cases of two swine flu deaths in Delhi — of Renu Gupta (38) and Samrat Pandya (31) —reveals that both were caused by delayed treatment, report Nivedita Khandekar & Jaya Shroff Bhalla.
A close look at the cases of two swine flu deaths in Delhi — of Renu Gupta (38) and Samrat Pandya (31) —reveals that both were caused by delayed treatment.
Renu Gupta, a resident of Model Town who returned from Singapore on August 15, developed symptoms of fever and sore throat the same evening.
“She fell ill on August 15 but did not get tested till August 19. She came to RML Hospital at 12.30 pm yesterday (Wednesday) with severe breathlessness and cyanosis (bluish colour of the skin and the mucous membranes due to insufficient oxygen in blood),” said Nishith Chaturvedi, medical superintendent at RML Hospital. “She was immediately put on ventilator, but died by 10.30 pm.”
Samrat Pandya reached the hospital on August 14 after spending a day at a private hospital in Gurgaon. The doctors put him on ventilator after he suffered a cardiac arrest on August 15.
“His blood pressure fell this morning and he suffered myocarditis (inflammation of the heart) because his heart was affected by H1N1 virus,” said Dr Chaturvedi.
The two deaths have dealt a blow to Delhi’s record in H1N1 containment.
Delhi Health Minister Kiran Walia, however, said Delhi was prepared to fight the disease.
“There is no need to panic. We have been repeatedly telling people to go to the screening centres or general physicians as soon as they show symptoms of the flu,” she said.
The minister said the government could not have done more. “Gurgaon is not under our jurisdiction, yet we encourage all patients to come to Delhi for screening. Pandya got himself admitted at a stage when even Tamiflu had little effect.”
Ten new positive cases were reported on Thursday, which includes 3 children. So far, Delhi has reported 372 cases.