Youngster dies of swine flu, three deaths in Jan

A youngster died of swine flu (H1N1) in Delhi on Thursday, taking the number of deaths due to the virus to three this month.

A youngster died of swine flu (H1N1) in Delhi on Thursday, taking the number of deaths due to the virus to three this month.

Swine-Flu-India-reported-195-cases-and-17-deaths-across-15-states-till-January-13-2015-AFP-File-Photo

The victim, a “young adult” from east Delhi, succumbed to the disease at a private hospital on Thursday, said a Directorate of Health Services official.

“The youth was critical and on ventilator support. He had high fever and died due to respiratory failure,” said Dr Charan Singh, additional director in-charge of public health, health services.

Meanwhile, eight fresh cases of swine flu were reported on Thursday taking the total figure to 31 this year. The fresh cases include four men and four women living in areas such as east Delhi’s Preet Vihar and Laxmi Nagar, Malviya Nagar, Punjabi Bagh and Azadpur.

“Of the eight cases, four patients have been admitted to private hospitals. The other four are in Safdarjung hospital, Lady Hardinge and Ram Manohar Lohia hospitals. They have all tested positive for H1N1 at authorized laboratories,” he added.

A 42-year-old woman from Uttam Nagar and a 39-year-old man from Faridabad died of swine flu on Tuesday night. Earlier, a 51-year-old woman died of the disease on December 24 at Sir Ganga Ram hospital.

At Ram Manohar Lohia hospital, there are five patients with symptoms of swine flu and one of them is on life support. “There are two new admissions at the hospital and three of them have been found to be positive. One of them is serious and has been put on ventilator. He was suffering from pneumonia and need life support as he had acute respiratory problem,” said Dr HK Kar, medical superintendent, RML hospital.

The Lady Hardinge staff, who is undergoing treatment for swine flu at Sir Ganga Ram hospital, has been taken off the ventilator, according to hospital sources. She was brought in a critical state from Kailash hospital in Noida on January 2.

Meanwhile, Delhi health secretary SCL Das held a meeting with the National Center for Disease and Control (NCDC) officials, on Thursday, and decided to train the workers at primary healthcare centres as well in handling swine flu cases.