H1N1 Cases With Co-morbid Factors to be on Alert

Eight patients have died in the last 24 hours and the virus killed 81 in Maharashtra and 68 patients from Mumbai have tested positive. BMC health officials have asked the people falling in high-risk category need to be extra careful.

"Most of these patients are stable. There is no need to panic. People with co-morbid factors like hypertension, diabetes, immunosuppression need to be careful. If our prevention instructions are followed, there is nothing to worry about," said Dr Mangala Gomare, in-charge of the epidemeology department, BMC.

A 43-year-old Khopoli resident succumbed to swine flu in Kasturba Hospital was a hypertension patient, and was admitted with breathlessness and symptoms of swine flu. He was on ventilator and his condition deteriorated very fast. "He died of respiratory failure and had bilateral lobar pneumonia, a complication of H1N1", reported the hospital officials.

Union health ministry, in its revised guidelines, has classified flu cases into category A (patients do not need testing and can stay at home but must avoid contact with high-risk family members), category B (patients do not need H1N1 tests but may need Oseltamivir) and category C (those with breathlessness and low blood pressure, need tested and hospitalised).

The state health ministry has been checking the swine flu cases in Maharashtra and is trying to ensure the availability of Tamiflu and vaccines. It has requested isolation wards in private hospitals for swine flu patients.

Source: Medindia