Swine flu claims two lives in Mumbai, 120 across state

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) public health department on Tuesday confirmed two swine flu deaths in the city. A 30-year-old woman from Agripada and a 65-year-old diabetic woman from Mazgaon died in the month of March due to swine flu, as per the records presented by the death audit committee meeting held in April.

As per the civic body's record, the 30-year-old Agripada resident was admitted in the hospital for around seven days for treatment. She was on a ventilator in the intensive care unit. The 65-year-old woman from Mazgaon was admitted in the hospital only for a day. "Both the patients died in the first 10 days of March, but the confirmation of death due to swine flu was given recently," said Dr Padmaja Keskar, executive health officer, public health department, BMC.

"As per records, five deaths have been reported in the city. However, three of them are not residents of Mumbai. The city has recorded only two swine flu deaths so far," said Dr Keskar.

The city has recorded around 134 cases of swine flu this year till mid-April. While there were no cases of swine flu in January, 40 cases were reported in February, 81 cases in March and 14 cases till mid-April.

Besides swine flu, around 275 cases of gastro were reported in the month of April.

As per the Maharashtra public health department data, around 120 people have died in the state due to swine flu till April 21. According to the health department officials, due to climatic change, there has been an increase in the number of cases suffering from swine flu this year.

Swine flu is caused by the H1N1 virus.