(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) The public health department has sounded an alert, urging doctors across the state to be prepared to tackle the spurt in swine flu, which has already taken about 35 lives in Maharashtra since the start of the year.
What is worrying officials is the sharp rise in the number of deaths in the neighbouring states of Gujarat (where more than 70 persons have died since January 1 after being infected with the H1N1 virus) and Telangana (50 deaths). More than 200 people have succumbed to the influenza A (H1N1) virus across India over the past 40 days.
"We have informed all our member-doctors to revive the protocol that had been created about three years ago when there was a spurt in H1N1 cases," Dr Jayesh Lele, president-elect of the Maharashtra chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), told Khaleej Times on Sunday. "All the leading private hospitals in Mumbai and other parts of the state are prepared to tackle the spurt in swine flu."
While Maharashtra has seen about 35 deaths since January 1, in Mumbai five persons have succumbed to the viral disease. But Lele was confident that the worst is over, as winter has receded and bright sunny weather is now prevalent in most parts of the state.
According to officials in the Maharashtra public health department, the government has procured and deployed adequate stock of Oseltamivir (marketed under the Tamiflu brand) tablets to tackle the new outbreak of the viral flu. Masks for doctors and other healthcare workers have also been sent to hospitals.
Almost 130 hospitals all over the state have been readied to treat patients. In Mumbai, all the multi-speciality hospitals are geared to tackle the outbreak, said Lele. The five H1N1 victims were mainly from other parts of Maharashtra or from other states. Public health department officials estimate there are another 10 H1N1 positive cases in Mumbai, some of them in a critical state and are on ventilators.
The sudden outbreak of the disease since the beginning of the new year has occurred in the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Telangana and Maharashtra. Nagpur has recorded the highest number of deaths in the state.
Swine flu has taken a huge toll in India in recent years. In 2009, following the H1N1 pandemic, almost a thousand people died between May and December. The following year, the H1N1 virus claimed 1,763 lives. In 2011, however, the toll had declined to 75, but there was an upsurge the following year, when 405 persons succumbed to the disease.
In 2013, there was another upsurge, with almost 700 deaths being reported across India. In 2014, it was down to 238, but 2015 has already seen more than 200 deaths during the first 40 days.
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