The state government has decided to reimburse the medical expenses of swine flu patients who are admitted in private hospitals and are on ventilator. A circular to this effect will be issued on March 4. Also, an audit done by the health department has revealed that 70% of the swine flu patients are from urban areas.
The state government has decided to reimburse the medical expenses of swine flu patients who are admitted in private hospitals and are on ventilator. A circular to this effect will be issued on March 4. Also, an audit done by the health department has revealed that 70% of the swine flu patients are from urban areas.
"We will issue a circular to private hospitals that patients who are on ventilator with swine flu will be treated free. Their medical bills will be reimbursed by the government," said Dr Satish Pawar of directorate of health services Maharashtra.
Who will monitor the cases in pvt hospitals?
Dr Pawar added that for this the health department will appoint a committee of doctors. The committee will cross-check if the patient needed ventilator in first place and also investigate the treatment protocol followed.
So far, the state has seen 161 swine flu deaths. While Nagpur has seen the highest number of deaths, Mumbai is one of the top five cities that has reported swine flu cases in high numbers.
Which areas are the most affected?
"During our audit, we found that 70% of the people with swine flu are from urban cities and 30% are from rural areas," said Dr Pawar. He added that even among the rural patients there are cases with history of visiting urban areas. "Urban cities are congested. That can be one of the reasons why 70% of the cases are from cities," said Dr Pawar.
Are diabetics more at risk?
The department also observed that most of the patients with swine flu who died had diabetes. Hypertension, obesity were the other diseases found more in the patients who died of swine flu. "We also found that the virus affected 60% females and 40% of males," informed Dr Pawar.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's audit of swine flu deaths in 2015 revealed that almost all patients delayed getting medical help and that led to late diagnosis and treatment. So far, 19 people have died of swine flu in the city hospitals out of which 12 had secondary diseases.
Woman dies in Kasturba Hospital
A 35-year-old woman died of swine flu on Tuesday morning. A resident of Borivali, she was admitted in Kasturba Hospital on February 27. According to civic health officials, she died of sepsis with bilateral pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome.
Number of cases
In state: 1,899 swine flu positive cases and 161 deaths
In Mumbai: 597 swine flu positive cases and 19 deaths
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