Pune: The swine flu virus (H1N1) has claimed over 100 lives in Maharashtra due to volatile day and night temperatures, health authorities have said. As many as 33 deaths have been recorded in Pune district and 18 patients are said to be in a critical condition.
Authorities said the death toll across the State, from January to April, has exceeded 100, and more than 190 cases tested positive for the virus. This has marked a fourfold increase in H1N1 deaths as compared to those in the same period last year, when authorities recorded a little over 80 cases and 25 deaths.
The most recent casualty of the virus was a two-and-a-half-year-old girl from Ahmednagar district, who died in Pune’s K.E.M. Hospital on Tuesday. Doctors said she was suffering from influenza-like symptoms, including fever, cold and cough, since March, following which she was admitted to the hospital. She succumbed to cardiopulmonary arrest after a swine flu-induced acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).
Six deaths in a day
Meanwhile, hospitals across Nagpur reported six swine flu deaths on Wednesday, taking the death toll to 12 in this month alone.
Nashik, in northern Maharashtra, has reported 20 deaths. The district also recorded an all-time high summer temperature of 40.7 degrees Celsius.
Favourable environment
Dr. Kanchan Jagtap, joint director of the State Health Department, said, “The day temperature has been unseasonably hot: around the 40-degree mark; while the minimum temperature touches 20 degrees Celsius. This is creating a favourable environment for the swine flu virus to thrive.”
Authorities said a significant number of casualties in Pune district, including those in the township of Pimpri-Chinchwad, came from adjoining districts in western Maharashtra. The health department of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) analysed the data of nearly 170 swine flu cases in the city between January and April this year. Out of these, 84 patients were local residents while the remaining came from adjoining areas.
The State had witnessed a rise in H1N1 virus cases in 2015 as well, with over 900 deaths and 8,240 cases. Many cases were recorded even during summer, as several bouts of unseasonal showers negated the impact that high summer temperatures may have had in curbing the spread of the virus.
