Bangalore, Aug 27 (DHNS) : After a respite on Tuesday, when no H1N1-related deaths were reported in the City, the dreaded virus claimed the lives of four persons here on Wednesday.
As the death total mounted to 19, as many as 22 fresh H1N1 positive cases were reported in Bangalore. Of these 21 were from the City and one from Udupi. The State has so far recorded 367 H1N1 positive cases.
Wednesday’s fatalities included 38-year-old Nagaraj, who died at Sagar Hospital, Pushpalatha Bhakthesh (35) who succumbed to the disease at St Martha’s Hospital, Munirathnam (48) whose end came at St Phelomena’s Hospital and 45-year-old Venkatesh, who died at Kempagowda Institute if Medical Science (KIMS).
Nagaraj succumbed to the H1N1 virus at Sagar Hospital in the wee hours of Wednesday. He was admitted to the hospital 10 days ago with complaints of fever and breathlessness. Dr Ajit Kumar of Sagar Hospital said Nagaraj had hypertension and was in a critical condition when he was admitted. “The patient’s blood pressure was low and he went through septic shock on the ventilator”. Tamiflu was administered to the patient on the day of admission and his swab samples tested positive for A (H1N1). The cause of death was declared as acute respiratory distress syndrome.
Pushpalatha Bhakthesh died on August 24 before her test results were confirmed. She was admitted to the hospital on August 23 with high fever, cough and breathlessness. Dr Shashikant, Medical Officer of the hospital, said: “We got to know that her test results had come positive over the telephone. However, we are yet to receive the report.”
He said Pushpalatha had been referred from St Theresa’s Hospital and was immediately admitted to ICU, with bilateral pneumonia. However, as her condition worsened, she was put on ventilator by evening. “We took her throat swab the day she got admitted and sent it to Nimhans. We also put her on Tamiflu tablets. However, her condition was quite bad and she died on August 24. We have asked the Health department to give more Tamiflu tablets to us,” he said adding that she didn’t have any pre-existing illnesses. The cause of her death has been reported as respiratory failure and bilateral lower lobe pneumonia.