3-year-old becomes first casualty of swine flu in Noida this year

A three-year- old child has died allegedly of swine flu, making him the first casualty in Gautam Budh Nagar due to the H1N1 influenza this year.

A three-year- old child has died allegedly of swine flu, making him the first casualty in Gautam Budh Nagar due to the H1N1 influenza this year.

“The total count of swine flu in Ghaziabad has reached 77. Apart from this, at least 20 patients from other districts have also been diagnosed with swine flu. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The child with high fever was admitted to Super Specialty Child PGI Hospital in Noida Sector 30 a week ago and he was diagnosed with swine flu.

“On Wednesday, the child succumbed to the flu. We have sent our report to the district health department,” said Dr DK Singh, chief medical superintendent, Super Specialty Child PGI Hospital.

“The child’s swine flu was confirmed by a report from National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). We are looking into possible reason behind the death,” Singh said.

In the wake of the death due to swine flu, the GB Nagar health department said it will inquire into reasons behind the casualty.

“We received the report only yesterday about the casualty of the child,” said Dr Anurag Bhargav, chief medical officer, GB Nagar.

Until now, Ghaziabad has registered two deaths due to swine flu and GB Nagar has registered one.

The count of positive cases of swine flu has also increased in Ghaziabad with five more cases of suspected samples being confirmed by NCDC in Delhi.

“The total count of swine flu in Ghaziabad has reached 77. Apart from this, at least 20 patients from other districts have also been diagnosed with swine flu,” said GK Mishra, district malaria officer, Ghaziabad health department.

In Gautam Budh Nagar, the count of swine flu has remained at 52.

“Until now, we have not seen any increase from our earlier figure of 52 confirmed cases. We have again dispatched 16 more samples to the Delhi-based lab for test,” said Dr Anurag Bhargav, chief medical officer, GB Nagar.

Swine flu is an infection caused by swine influenza virus that is endemic in pigs.

It is a highly contagious disease and can easily spread from a patient through saliva and mucus particles.

Dr Bhargav said, “Diabetic people and those with kidney problems are more prone to swine flu. Patients should avoid going to crowded areas and should ideally maintain a distance from others to avoid spreading the infection.”