India : 39-year-old dies of H1N1 in govt hospital

Via Times of India :

" CHENNAI: This year's first "official" H1N1 death in the city was recorded on Friday when a government employee died of the flu at the Government General Hospital. At least three H1N1 deaths are yet to be registered because, according to the government, private hospitals failed to report them to the health department.

According to the hospital superintendent Dr C Veni, 39-year-old Mohanavelu Palanichamy, assistant public relations officer at the secretariat, died at 6.45am following a massive cardio-respiratory arrest. He was admitted to the hospital on September 7 in a critical condition after he tested positive for the flu. He was in the intensive care unit on a life support system. He also developed pneumonia and did not respond to treatment.

Directorate of public health Dr R T Porkai Pandian, who examined the casesheets, said there had been a delay in diagnosis. "The patient had fever since September 2. He was being treated by a private hospital in Triplicane. He was even admitted for a day and discharged the next day. They did not suspect H1N1 till September 5, when he required admission once again for respiratory distress. The swabs were then taken for test. He was started on Tamiflu and shifted to GH after the test confirmed he was positive, but it was too late," he said."