First A(H1N1) death in Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu recorded its first swine flu death on Monday when a four-year old boy fell victim to the illness at a private hospital here. Hospital authorities said he died of multiple organ failure following the flu.

Sanjay Balakrishnan, who had been ill for about a week, was moved through two private hospitals before he was finally shifted to Mehta Hospital, where his A(H1N1) infection was finally detected. However, Sanjay’s condition had already deteriorated by the time he was given Tamiflu on Saturday.

As in the case of Reeda Shaikh (14), who died in Pune last week, Sanjay’s illness went undiagnosed, though he was in hospital, until his condition became serious.

Sanjay was prone to asthma attacks. Last week, after a bout of severe diarrhoea and respiratory infection, he was taken to a local hospital close to his house at Velachery. From there he was shifted to Sooriya Hospital at Vadapalani, where his condition is said to have deteriorated.

When his kidneys failed, he was shifted to Mehta Hospital for dialysis. There, Sanjay was put on ventilator and a gastric sample was taken to test for A(H1N1). Though an unconventional sample (usually it is a nose/throat swab), this test result was positive.