Two more swine flu deaths recorded in Mumbai

Two senior citizens, one from the city and the other from outside Mumbai, succumbed to swine flu on Sunday. This has taken the number of deaths due to H1N1 to 33 this year.

A 70-year-old Borivli resident, who had a history of heart disease and diabetes, was admitted to Karuna Hospital on March 11 and was later transferred to Apex Hospital during that day. She died on March 17 due to septicemia.

She suffered from acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Another patient, a 72-year-old man, who was a diabetic and also suffered from high blood pressure, was admitted to Shraddh Hospital in Mulund on March 15.

He succumbed to the H1N1 virus on March 17. "He died of cardio respiratory failure, pnuemonia, breathlessness and infection. Moreover, his kidneys failed," said a BMC official.

Mumbai has seen 1,428 confirmed cases of swine flu since January this year.

"Even though weather has changed of late, the nights are still significantly cooler than the days. It is difficult to predict as to when the number of cases will start dropping," said

Dr Mangala Gomare, chief of epidemiology, BMC.

The state has identified 128 government-run hospitals and reserved isolation facilities of five beds each in every hospital to ensure adequate reach-out. "So that there is no influx of infected patients to Mumbai or other cities, facilities have been spread out up to the block level in districts across Maharashtra," said Dr Pradip Awate, in-charge of H1N1 cell in the state.