India, Punjab : Two die of dengue, toll touches 4

Via The Indian Express :

" With two more dengue deaths, the toll in Ludhiana touched four on Tuesday while the number of patients in the district has touched 733 this season. As many as eight new patients were confirmed with dengue from different parts of the city on Tuesday.

The two dengue victims have been identified as 30-year-old Khanna and a 12-year-old girl from Giaspura. Both died in CMCH. The new patients who had been confirmed with dengue are from Dana Mandi, one each from Daad, Bharti Colony, Field Gunj, Kochar Market and Haibowal Kalan. District epidemiologist Dr Anil Verma said that the number of patients have reduced by one third due to the dip in temperature."

India, Mumbai : 8th dengue death in city, 660 cases so far this year

Via The Indian Express, excerpt :

" A 20-year-old pregnant woman succumbed to dengue on Monday. This is the eighth dengue death in the city since the onset of monsoon. While six deaths were reported by BMC, one was reported by Mira-Bhayander Municipal Corporation (MBMC).

Ruby Shaikh, a resident of Sakinaka, was nine months pregnant when she contracted malaria last month. 

"She complained of high fever. When we admitted her in a private nursing home, she tested positive for malaria as well as dengue," said her brother Meezan Shaikh.

According to Meezan, Ruby was transferred to JJ hospital after two days as her condition became critical.

In the next 22 days, she suffered kidney failure and partial paralysis. "Ruby lost her baby a little before she died," Meezan said.

Meezan alleged that BMC had not carried out fumigation in Sakinaka for a long time."

India, New Delhi : Fifth dengue death as cases cross 3,500

Via The Indian Express :

" A 17-year-old girl became the fifth in the capital to fall to dengue, as the total number of diagnosed cases so far this year crossed 3,500.

Yashica Narang from Rajouri Garden died on September 24 at Sir Ganga Ram hospital, a day after she was admitted there. Yashika had tested positive for the IgM antibody for the dengue virus through ELISA technology.

Four dengue deaths have been confirmed so far, including a six-year-old girl who died at Safdarjung hospital last month. Seven others, who died with symptoms of dengue last month and tested positive for either the antigen or antibody of the virus through the rapid tests, have been listed as "suspected" dengue deaths by the civic bodies.

According to officials, if patients who have tested positive through rapid tests are taken into account, the total count may increase 2-3 times."

India, New Delhi : In three days, 382 dengue cases

Via The Indian Express :

" As many as 382 new cases of dengue were confirmed in the last three days, taking the number of persons affected by the virus this year to 3,298. Till Monday, the civic bodies had confirmed 2,916 cases.

Four dengue deaths have been confirmed so far. Seven other patients who died with symptoms of dengue last month and tested positive for either the antigen or antibody of the virus through the rapid tests, have been listed as "suspected" dengue deaths by the civic bodies.

This count only includes patients who are testing positive through dengue tests under the ELISA technology, while most private hospitals and several diagnostic laboratories are continuing tests through rapid diagnostic kits."

India, Pune : Swine flu claims two more lives

Via The Indian Express :

" 59-yr- old Kashibai Badade from Latur and 35-year-old Shahaji Shankar Yadav, a resident of Satara, died of swine flu on Sunday and Monday respectively , taking the PMC toll to 41 since January this year. 

Badade had been suffering from cough and fever since August 18 and was referred to Ruby Hall Clinic on August 23 after initial treatment at Latur. She died due to disease-related complications pneumonia and sepsis. 

Another victim Yadav had been suffering from fever with chills since August 25 and complained of breathless on August 28. He died of acute respiratory distress syndrome."

India, Pune : Swine flu claims two more lives, PMC toll touches 38

Via The Indian Express :

" With two more deaths registered over the weekend, the Pune Municipal Corporation's (PMC) swine flu toll has touched 38 since January.

Pratibha Haribhakt (45) from Koregaon Park, who had been suffering from fever and cough since August 18, succumbed to the virus at Inlaks and Budhrani Hospital on Sunday. She had been undergoing treatment for diabetes and hypertension for the past one year. She was shifted to Inlaks from Shree Hospital at Yerawada on August 20 after she complained of breathlessness.

Chetan Shah (37), a resident of Katraj, succumbed to the virus on Saturday at Sahyadri Hospital. He had been suffering from cough since August 17 and had fever with chills. He had a cerebro vascular arrest seven years ago and was on regular medication. He complained of breathlessness on August 23 and was admitted to Shree Sai Prasad Hospital. He was later referred to Sahyadri Hospital, Swargate, where he succumbed to the virus.

PMC health authorities said that seven people are undergoing treatment for swine flu at various hospitals across the city while two are on ventilator support.

So far, as many as 244 people have tested positive for the virus."

India, Pune : Woman dies of swine flu week after giving birth

Article via The Indian Express :

" A 27-year-old woman, who had delivered a baby girl on August 13 at Dhanwantari Hospital in Satara, died of swine flu at Ruby Hall Clinic on Tuesday.

The condition of the victim, Dhanashree Jadhav, who had been suffering from mild fever and cough since August 6 worsened as she complained of breathlessness. 

Initially, she was admitted to Sanjeevani Hospital at Satara and later was shifted to Ruby Hall Clinic after her condition deteriorated. She was diagnosed with myco plasma pneumonia due to the swine flu infection. 

Her throat swab tested positive for the virus on August 17 and she succumbed to the disease on Tuesday. 

While she hails from Satara, she has been registered as the 36th swine flu victim under the jurisdiction of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) as she died at a city hospital. So far, as many as 243 people in the city have been tested positive with the virus since January this year."

India, Pune : Swine flu toll in district touches 48 since January

Via The Indian Express :

" The areas under Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) recorded the 35th death due to swine flu (H1N1 virus) since January when Hiraman Mohol, 51, of Kothrud died on August 17 at the Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital.

The toll from Pune stands at 48 if the 13 deaths in the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) area too is taken into account.

Mohol was suffering from fever and cough since July 23. His presumptive source of infection was his travel to Pandharpur on July 18, 19, said PMC health authorities. He was on medication for hypertension and was admitted to the hospital on August 2. The NIV report tested positive for swine flu and despite a prolonged treatment he succumbed. He died of acute respiratory distress syndrome with septic shock."

India, Gujarat : Leptospirosis claims five more in Surat

Via The Indian Express, excerpt :

" The deadly leptospirosis has claimed five lives in Surat's New Civil Hospital in the past two days, taking the toll to 11.

Every year, monsoon brings fear of an outbreak among farm workers in the state. But this year, it certainly left the health officials in a tizzy. During the monsoon, farm workers run the risk of being affected by the leptospira bacteria that causes leptospirosis, a disease that can turn fatal very fast.

This year, the disease had raised its ugly head a little late, with patients starting to come in for treatment only during the last week of July. While five new suspected patients had been admitted to the hospital recently, the total number of patients who came in this season have reached 50.

The five patients who died have been identified as Rushita Kanu Patel (34), a resident of Upsal village in Vansda taluka of Navsari district, while others are identified as Babu Chaudhary (40), a resident of Ambach village in Tapi district, Sunil Chaudhary (42), a resident of Mandvi taluka in Surat district, Harsingh Chaudhary (45), of Mandvi taluka, and Hitesh Rathod (35), of Palsana taluka in Surat district."

India, Gujarat : Two more die of leptospirosis, toll rises to 5 in state

Article via The Indian Express :

" With two more people dying of leptospirosis at the New Civil Hospital in Surat, the death toll in the past 12 days rose to five, sources said on Monday.

One of the deceased has been identified as Kishan Harpati (40), a resident of Neol village in Palsana taluka of Surat district, while the second patient was Pritesh Patel (35), a resident of Mahuva taluka.

Hospital sources said these patients were undergoing treatment in the EO ward of the hospital for the past few days. Over 35 such patients are undergoing treatment for the disease at the New Civil Hospital. On Sunday night, two more cases of suspected Leptospirosis were detected. Doctors have taken blood samples of both the patients. Their results are awaited.

Surat New Civil Hospital medical superintendent Dr M K Wadhel said, "This year, the impact of leptospirosis is less than that of the last. Health department officials have also carried out an awareness drive in different districts of South Gujarat. This is meant to inform patients about the disease as most of them come to us at a later stage."

Every year, over hundreds of farm labourers die due to leptospirosis in south Gujarat. These labourers work in the field with their bare hands and feet, as a result of which they are easily exposed to the bacteria found in the urine of rats in the fields."

India : 11 H1N1 cases in a week, health officials on alert

Via Indian Express :

" A sudden rise in the number of swine flu patients in a week has put health authorities on an alert with doctors being advised not to rule out H1N1 virus infection among influenza related cases. Health authorities have registered 11 swine flu patients in a week. Three are on ventilator, while two are critical, health authorities said.

New infections are being reported from Bhosari, Kharadi, Nigdi, Kothrud and Lonikand. A 55-year-old woman from Lonikand who was admitted to Global Hospital at Rahatne Phate and a 30-year-old pregnant woman who had to undergo a premature delivery at Aditya Birla Hospital are on ventilator, Dr Vinayak More, district civil surgeon said. Dr S T Pardeshi, chief medical officer at PMC, said two patients were critical, however, surveillance measures have been stepped up and doctors have been told to check influenza patients for swine flu.

Doctors across hospitals admit there is an increase in the number of cases of viral pneumonia and a few are turning positive for H1N1 virus (swine flu). However, there is no reason to panic as sporadic cases will occur, said state surveillance officer Dr Pradip Awate."

India : Swine flu resurfaces, 4 cases in 10 days

Via Indian Express :

" After a gap of three months, the city has witnessed four cases of swine flu in 10 days.

Of the four patients, one is a pregnant woman and another is a six-year-old child. According to district health authorities, the situation is under control and these are sporadic cases.

District civil surgeon Dr Vinayak More said two are on ventilator support while the remaining have recovered. The condition of the 51-year-old autorickshaw driver, who is on ventilator support, continues to be critical at Bharati Hospital.

According to Sassoon General Hospital authorities, the seven-month pregnant woman (30) was admitted barely for 3-4 hours on March 4 and before the throat swab could be sent for testing, she got discharged against medical advice and went to Aditya Birla Hospital.

District health authorities said she had tested positive and had to undergo a premature delivery. She is on ventilator support. At civic body-run Naidu Hospital, a six-year-old girl from Kharadi is recovering from swine flu, said chief medical officer Dr S T Pardeshi. According to More, another patient is being treated at Command Hospital."

India : New bird flu strain killed Jharkhand crows

Article via Indian Express :

" Scientists at the National Institute of Virology (NIV) have found a new strain of bird flu that killed over 500 crows three months ago at Jharkhand.

While confirming that it was avian influenza, Dr A C Mishra, the Director of NIV, said that the strain is different from the one that had infected poultry in Maharashtra some years ago. It is for the first time that it has been found in the country, Mishra said. “We have compared it to the strains from Vietnam, Indonesia and other places in Asia and found similarities with the Vietnam strain,” added Mishra.

The NIV had received samples that included four crows from among those that had died in several areas of Jharkhand, including Jamshedpur, Bokaro and Hazaribagh. The process of characterisation of the virus is underway and it is a different strain of the avian influenza virus, NIV scientists said."

India : The new, deadly TB strain may be more widespread

Via Indian Express :

" The occurrence of a new, deadly variant of the TB causing bacteria, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, that is resistant to all currently available lines of treatment — researchers at the P D Hinduja National Hospital and Medical Research Centre at Mumbai say they have detected 12 such cases recently in India — could be more widespread.

According to a yet-to-be published paper by a research group in Bangalore’s St John’s Research Institute, among 100 TB patients they had randomly selected for drug susceptibility studies, six were found having the ‘total’ drug resistant (TDR) strain of the disease. Besides, 30 among the 100 patients were found to be first line multi-drug resistant (MDR) cases and 13 second-line extensive drug resistant (XDR) cases.

“Our data is pending publication. We have stored the drug resistant varieties in our bio-repository to show that they exist,” says Dr John Kenneth, Professor and Head, Infectious Diseases, St John’s Research Institute.

The emergence of the TDR-type strain means that TB could be more dangerous than HIV because the spread of HIV can be controlled with the control of risky behaviour and life can be prolonged with treatment."

India : With 68 cases of dengue & 432 of malaria, UT mulls next move

Via Indian Express :

" With the onset of winter, a sudden decline has been witnessed in the number of dengue fever cases reported in the city. So far, Chandigarh has witnessed 68 confirmed cases in different government hospitals during this season, which is substantially less than what it was last year.

By this time in 2010, UT Health Department had recorded 138 confirmed cases of dengue.

Health department officials said that this year the number of cases were on the lower side owing to the increased awareness among city residents about the fever and also due to ICE activities undertaken by the department by way of holding awareness camps in various locations."

India : Season of diseases - Four cholera cases reported

Via Indian Express :

" While the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) claims to have curbed the malaria menace, the occurrence of other monsoon-related diseases is on the rise. As the BMC recorded four cases of cholera last week, the occurrence of the highly infectious disease is raising concerns. All the four patients belong to the E and D wards, which include the congested areas of Mohammed Ali Road and Byculla. The patients have been admitted to Kasturba Hospital which has also has admitted a number of patients suffering from gastroenteritis.

Interestingly, while the BMC includes diseases like leptospirosis, dengue and malaria, it never mentions cases of cholera while filing its health reports.

Additional municipal commissioner Manisha Mhaiskar said the BMC is taking efforts to spread the word of hygiene among the public. “ We have been urging people to either boil water or drink chlorinated water. People must also refrain from eating stale street food and stick to home-cooked food,” said Mhasikar. “We are specifically targeting the madarsas and mosques to reach more people."

India : 141 malaria cases reported in district, 8 in city this year

Via Indian Express :

" As many AS 141 cases of malaria have been reported in Pune district since January, of which eight are from the city. The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has activated its insect control cell and identified 25,854 mosquito breeding spots across the city. Dr R R Pardeshi, chief medical officer of the PMC said the civic body has released a total of 2,552 guppy fishes in 208 spots to curb breeding of mosquitoes. These fish eat the larvae of mosquitoes and help tackle malaria.

Pre-monsoon preparedness to contain vector-borne diseases like malaria, dengue and chikungunya has been put in place, said Pardeshi, adding that data has been collected from over 200 private hospitals in the city and blood samples of suspected patients have been sent to the laboratory at Gadi Khana for examination."

India : Swine flu claims life in city

Via Indian Express :

" Ludhiana: One Satnam Singh died of Swine flu at the Dayanand Medical College and Hospital on Wednesday. State nodal officer for Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme said, “We have also received two more samples from DMCH of suspected Swine Flu cases. The report, however, is yet to be released.“ As many as 34 patients are suffering from Swine Flu in various districts of Punjab. Locals can call up helpline number 0161 2444193 for any information in this regard."

India : Dengue comeback - Two cases reported in city

Via Indian Express :

" Dengue has made an early comeback this year, with two cases already reported in the city this month.

The two patients, one of whom is a doctor, were admitted at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the first week of March after testing positive for dengue. The MCD is still trying to establish if the patients contracted the disease in the city. "

India : No space for TB patients in PMC-run hospital

Via Indian Express :

" The TB ward of PMC-run Dr Naidu Infectious Diseases Hospital, one of the swine flu screening centres with arrangements for H1N1 patients, has been shut for almost two years and TB patients are being turned away. They are either referred to the state-run Sassoon General hospital or the Aundh General Hospital.

PMC health authorities are awaiting the swine flu-free tag from the state government to start the TB ward. PMC chief medical officer Dr R R Pardeshi said there was not a single H1N1 case in the city . “However, while daily efforts of screening and testing patients with symptoms of cough and cold are still on at Naidu quarantine ward, throat swabs sent to National Institute of Virology (NIV) have not tested positive. We had to refer TB patients to Sassoon or Aundh, as TB patients had to be isolated from H1N1 patients,” he said.

Naidu doctors said some 30 patients are screened daily and samples from 10-12 suspected H1N1 cases are sent for examination."