New wave of H1N1 cases hits Mumbai

[Ronan Kelly]

New wave of H1N1 cases hits Mumbai
TNN 18 November 2009, 07:33am IST


MUMBAI: A 54-year-old woman is in a critical condition in Nair Hospital?s special swine flu ICU. Besides this, 12 persons tested positive for swine flu on Tuesday while five other are suspected to have the disease.

Experts have predicted a second wave of swine flu in winter, and countries such as the US are already in the grip of it. However, additional municipal commissioner Manisha Mhaiskar said that one patient on the ventilator could not be construed as a spike in swine flu cases. The last swine flu death in Mumbai was in the last week of September.

The BMC wants to ensure that the potential second wave is better managed. ?We have trained doctors, our lab is close to completion, an ICU unit is in place and anganwadi workers have been trained to pick up cases,?? Mhaiskar said.
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[Roehl_JC]

Re: New wave of H1N1 cases hits Mumbai

MUMBAI: Anantha Pachare was arrested on Tuesday after being booked under the Doctors' Protection Act 2009, passed in March this year, and might be the first to be arrested under this Act.

Pachare and his four relatives were booked after they assaulted three doctors and a security guard of Somaiya Hospital on November 8.

According to The Wadala Truck Terminal (TT) police, they attacked the doctors in the hospital after Pachare's one-year-old daughter, Prachi, died. He claimed the death was because of medical negligence.

Pachare, employed at the Sewri TB Hospital, had admitted Prachi in the paediatric casualty ward of Somaiya Hospital for pneumonia but she died while undergoing treatment.

"The doctors soon realised that Prachi showed symptoms of swine flu and therefore recommended that the girl's father take her to Kasturba Hospital for immediate treatment. But before the ambulance could leave, the girl died. Minutes later, the deceased's father and relatives thrashed three doctors and the security guard who tried to intervene and stop the ruckus,'' said Wadala TT senior inspector V B Bhosale.

According to Bhosale, they delayed making an arrest, considering that the family had lost their child. "Apart from the Doctors Act, Pachare and his four relatives were booked under Sections 34 (common intention), 323 and 325 (grievous hurt) and 504 (breach of peace) of the IPC,'' he said.

This was the third attack in a span of a month on doctors by relatives of patients. A few weeks earlier, such incidents were seen in other hospitals- Rajawadi, GT Hospital and Maa. With doctors seeking security, medical organisations such as the Indian Medical Association and Association of Medical Consultants have taken up the cause.

"Previously, the police could not do much to someone who assaulted a doctor. But according to the new ordinance, it is a non-bailable offence. Relatives have to understand that the doctor cannot always help the patient,'' said Dr Suhas Pingle, secretary of IMA, Maharashtra.

narayan.namboodiri@timesgroup.com

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[Roehl_JC]

Re: New wave of H1N1 cases hits Mumbai

MUMBAI: Bhumika Kailaskhedekar, a 29-year-old nurse, was beginning her third trimester when she became one of the first swine flu victims to be admitted to the isolation ward at J J Hospital three months ago. On Tuesday evening, she had reason to celebrate: she delivered a healthy baby boy. The proud mother said that she feared for her child's life during those harrowing days in hospital.

"I was around six months pregnant when I contracted the virus,'' said the J J Hospital nurse. "What started out as a harmless dry cough resulted in me getting admitted into an isolation ward."

A resident of Andheri and a mother of a five-year-old daughter, Bhumika said that at first she thought it was rather ridiculous to go to a hospital just because she had a cough. Those were in the initial days of the epidemic, when swine flu and H1N1 were yet to become a part of the local lexicon.

It was her gynaecologist who realised that it was no ordinary virus, when all medication failed to bring relief. "In August, when she complained of cold and fever, we treated her with antibiotics. But that didn't seem to have an effect,'' said gynaecologist Dr Ashok Anand from J J Hospital. "Even before the doctors got her test reports, they put her on Tamiflu,'' said Dr Anand.

Bhumika was worried about the effects of the medication on her child. "With the initial dose of Tamiflu, my fever vanished. But by that time, the infection had shifted from the upper to lower respiratory tract. I was told I had pneumonia,'' she said.

After 19 days in the isolation ward, Bhumika recovered and returned home. "I had complete faith in my doctors. But I was scared for my baby's life. Today, holding my baby boy, I feel stronger than ever.''

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[Roehl_JC]

Re: New wave of H1N1 cases hits Mumbai

We cannot underestimate the H1N1 virus, warn doctors
TNN 19 November 2009, 05:09am IST

There has been no change in the condition of the 54-year-old woman who is fighting swine flu and its complications in the special ICU at Nair Hospital since November 14. "She has neither deteriorated nor improved,'' is all that the doctors are willing to say about the Mira Road resident who is on ventilator support. Considering that Mumbai has not had such a critically ill patient in the last month or so, the case is a timely reminder about swine flu and its potential to wreak a havoc.

Says chest specialist Dr Ashok Mahasur, "If the temperature dips suddenly, swine flu could certainly come back.'' Across the world, he says, there has been no relaxation in anti-swine flu measures. "We cannot be complacent or underestimate the H1N1 virus,'' Dr Mahasur adds.

The first wave of swine flu claimed 27 lives in the city, with 19 occurring in civic hospitals. Over 1,400 patients have tested positive for the virus so far, with over 65,000 screened so far.

The problem with swine flu, say doctors, is that its initial symptoms are hardly different from ordinary flu. "Only the critically ill will seek healthcare,'' says Dr Mahasur. But in the critical patients, it's important to get access to medication and healthcare at the right time. Is the city public healthcare system geared for an emergency?

Civic additional commissioner Manisha Mhaiskar, who is in charge of public health, believes the corporation's battleplan is ready. "We are in a position to increase, in a short span, the number of ICU beds from 10 at present to 30,'' she says. At present, only Nair Hospital has 10 ICU beds. But other major civic hospitals such as KEM and Sion can organise 10 ICU beds in a short while, say the officials.

The corporation has already imparted training to around 400 doctors and 4,000 anganwadi workers to detect the swine flu symptoms at the earliest. "In the first wave, we noticed that 71% of the victims were women and children. We trained anganwadi workers and they can be mobilised to reach out to the community in a short time,'' said Mhaiskar.

But the most important tool in the battle against swine flu would be the special laboratory to test swine flu samples at affordable costs. While the BMC had promised in August to set up the lab within a couple of months, the civic laboratory is likely to open only in December. Mhaiskar clarifies that it was only last week that the civic standing committee approved the expenditure to procure a real-time PCR machine. "The process of procuring the equipment has begun, but it will take another three weeks before the laboratory is ready,'' she adds.

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