H1N1 raises its head again

TNN

MANGALORE, 27 July 2010: Almost after a year the city reported its first H1N1 case, six positive cases have been reported as on Monday, of which a pregnant woman, who tested positive for H1N1, has died. District surveillance officer Rajesh confirmed to TOI that a total of 16 samples had been sent to Manipal and six had retuned positive.

 

He did not confirm the death saying it was very difficult to ascertain whether the woman died due to H1N1. "We don’t know the exact cause. We can’t say the death is because of HINI. Only a physician can decide," he added.

 

 

Regarding the reasons for the onset of the flu, the medical officer said the virus was already in the community and the dormant virus was active due to favourable weather conditions and the low immunity group was getting affected. The six positive patients are in two hospitals in the city and among them a patient is from Madikeri.

 

The hospital authorities confirmed that the woman was H1N1 positive and she had died. "She was brought to the hospital in a serious condition. During pregnancy, a woman’s immunity is low and the patient had severe lung infection. She had grade 3 symptoms and we started her on Tamiflu even before getting the results," said a doctor at the hospital. The other two patients, who also tested positive for H1N1, are recovering.

 

The hospitals are getting adequate supplies of Tamiflu from the health department. "The pregnant woman was also recovering, but her condition deteriorated suddenly. We suspect myocarditis," the doctor added. Myocarditis is inflammation of the heart muscle (myocardium). It resembles a heart attack but coronary arteries are not blocked. Myocarditis is most often due to infection by common viruses.

 

Regarding mutation of the virus, Dr Rajesh said they had not received any guidelines or note from the government. "If the original virus which was seen in the country had mutated, the government would have notified us," he added. Surprisingly, majority of the patients admitted at the hospital ICU for H1N1 like symptoms are below 30.