Mangaluru, Jul 2: With the deaths of two more H1N1 patients last week in Dakshina Kananda the toll in the twin districts has claimed up to 17 since January. Over five hundred patients have been tested positive in the twin districts for the swine flu.
According to B.V. Rajesh, District Disease Surveillance Officer, both the victims suffered from cough and cold and later developed breathlessness. It was on June 21 and June 22 that the two were found positive for influenza.
Dr. Rajesh said the 58-year-old woman failed to recover from the viral influenza and died a few days ago. He said here was delay in getting treatment for the 21-year-old woman. The woman, who had cold and fever, was taken to different hospitals in the area before she was brought to a private hospital in Mangaluru on June 22 where she was found positive for A(H1N1).
“By that time, the influenza had reached an advanced stage and the treatment given had little effect,” he said.
Following the two deaths, medical treatment was given to family members who have been in close contacts with the victims.
Dr. Rajesh said that since January, 170 persons tested positive and of these, 62 persons are from the district. Of the 13 persons who died in Dakshina Kannada of the influenza only six are residents of the district, he added.
In Udupi district the influenza A has claimed lives of five persons in the past six months.
Rohini, Udupi District Health and Family Welfare Officer, said that 334 persons were tested for A(H1N1) between January and June. Of these, 64 tested positive. In June, 31 persons were tested, of whom three were found positive.
Of the three, two persons, a 72-year-old person from Udupi and a 33-year-old person travelling from Mumbai to Lakshadweep, died on June 4 and June 24, respectively. The other person was receiving treatment at Kasturba Hospital in Manipal. The District Government Hospital, the Community Health Centres and the Primary Health Centres had adequate stock of Tamiflu tablets to tackle the disease.
Isolation wards for the treatment of A(H1N1) had been created at the District Government Hospital (10 beds), all Taluk Government Hospitals (five beds each), and the Kasturba Hospital (10 beds) in Manipal. The Kasturba Hospital also had an exclusive four-bed ICU for A(H1N1), she said.
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