India : Swine flu death reported in Visakhapatnam

Article via The Hindu :

" A 35-year-old man from Sriharipuram area of the city had succumbed to swine flu while undergoing treatment at a city hospital on Tuesday. He was admitted in the hospital on March 26 with pneumonia and spitting blood with cough. This was the second death due to swine flu in the city during this year after a woman in her mid twenties and in advanced stage of pregnancy died on January 29.

He was immediately put on ventilator and doctors started treatment for swine flu and the test confirmed swine flu on March 28 and he continued to be on ventilator as his lung had collapsed. Swine flu symptoms were noticed two or three days before he was admitted in the hospital, District Nodal Officer for swine flu L.B.H.S. Devi said."

India, Karnataka : Nine more cholera cases in Holalu; swine flu reported

Via The Hindu :

" The waterborne disease has spread to neighbouring Vaddara Koppalu and Panakana Halli.

While the authorities concerned are taking steps to curb the spread of cholera in Holalu village in Mandya taluk, a case of influenza A (H1N1) virus, commonly known as swine flu, has been reported in Mandya city.

In Holalu village, nine more cases of cholera were reported on Wednesday. The waterborne disease has spread to neighbouring Vaddara Koppalu and Panakana Halli.

Mandya District Health Officer T.N. Marigowda, while confirming the swine flu case in Mandya city, said Jayamma (55), wife of Chowda Shetty, is undergoing treatment at BGS Apollo Hospital in Mysore.

In view of A (H1N1) case, the Mandya district administration has intensified surveillance in the locality."

India, Hyderabad : Viral fevers, HFMD on the rise

Via The Hindu :

" It is not just the cases of swine flu and dengue that are being detected in large numbers. Health officials, senior paediatricians and general practitioners are also indicating a rise in viral fevers and the prevalence of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) among children below five years this season.

While the typical symptoms of viral fevers are cough, cold, fever and body pains, the HFMD is characterised by mild illness, red spots on hands and legs, sore throat and mouth ulcers. Caused by virus, HFMD, however, is self-limiting and doctors point out that children will be able to recover within a week and there are no serious complications.

“Most of the viral fevers among children and even adults spread through touch and frequent hand washing is mandatory. There is no specific vaccine for HFMD, but there are flu shots for specific respiratory infections such as pneumonia. HFMD will subside on its own and there is no need for parents to panic,” advises in-charge Professor, Paediatrics, Gandhi Hospital, M. Vasudeva Murali."

India : 5-year-old dies at private hospital in Chennai, dengue suspected

Via The Hindu :

" A five-year-old girl, suspected to have had dengue, died at a private hospital in New Washermenpet on Monday. One of her relatives has also been admitted to hospital with similar symptoms.

D. Raghavi, who lived on Third Street, Desiya Nagar, had been admitted to Priya Nursing Home on Saturday with symptoms of dengue. Her father is a daily-wage labourer, and the child was a UKG student of a Chennai Corporation school in the neighbourhood.

Her relative, Ravikumar (26) has now been admitted at the same hospital’s intensive care unit.

Raghavi’s death created a scare in the area, and political party representatives rushed to her home to offer condolences.

The Chennai Corporation however, denied the child had died of dengue, saying her platelet count was 2.5 lakh, IgM and IgG tests were negative and there was no bleeding." 

India : 12 A(H1N1) deaths reported In Karnataka this year

Via The Hindu :

" The panic over influenza A(H1N1) may have subsided but the virus is still in the air. As many as 12 deaths have been reported in the State from January till date. Although this number is much less compared with the 135 deaths reported during the first outbreak in 2009, doctors said it was important to take precautions.

According to an official statement released by the State Health and Family Welfare Department, 5,420 of the 29,990 samples have tested positive for the virus from 2009 till date. A total of 331 people have succumbed to the infection during this period. Of these, 12 deaths, including three in Bangalore, were reported this year (from January till date). Two deaths, including one from Bangalore, were reported in the last fortnight alone.

Officials of the Health Department are on an alert following this. Health Director B.N. Dhanya Kumar told The Hindu that the department initiated surveillance measures in July itself. “With the fluctuating weather — rain and the continuous drop in temperature —cases of A(H1N1) are being reported from across the State,” he said."

India, Tamil Nadu : 3 districts put on alert after dengue outbreak in Madurai

Via The Hindu :

" Dengue fever has claimed an early casualty in the city.

Fourteen-year-old Sahana Bindhuja, daughter of AIADMK Councillor M.Shahirsha of Ward 17, representing Ellis Nagar, died at a leading private hospital in the city in the early hours of Tuesday following severe bleeding and a fall in her blood platelet count.

According to hospital authorities, the girl was shifted to the hospital at 6.30 p.m. on Monday on the advice of a paediatrician in Arasaradi.

She had high fever for the past few days and was admitted to a private hospital here in a critical condition. Despite ventilator support and emergency dengue control treatment, the girl succumbed at 2.55 a.m.

Hospital sources said lab reports had confirmed that the girl had tested positive for dengue fever."

India, Kerala : 117 malaria cases detected in Kozhikode

Via The Hindu, excerpt :

" There has been a rise in the number of malaria cases in the district.

The district malaria office on Monday confirmed 117 cases of the disease this year. But a more worrying statistic is that in 19 cases, malaria has been contracted indigenously, revealing that the source of infection is within the district.

“In these 19 cases, the infected people have no history of travel. Tthe infection was not imported but received from local sources within Kozhikode,” sad Vimal Raj, District Malaria Officer, Kozhikode.

Compared to 19 malaria cases contracted locally this year, only one case was reported to have been contracted indigenously in 2012.

Official figures show there is a steep rise in the number of malaria cases in the past five months. While there was one case of malaria reported in March, 5 were detected in April, 3 in July and 10 in August this year. Of this, a majority of 10 cases have been detected within the Kozhikode Corporation, raising serious health concerns for city dwellers. Four of the 19 cases have been found in Beypore alone."

India : Spike in swine flu cases worries Delhi doctors

Via The Hindu :

" Amid a rise in seasonal diseases in the city, doctors here claim that the most worrying trend is the increase in H1N1 (swine flu) cases. The virus seems to have returned to haunt the Capital after a lull of a few years.

According to Central government figures, Delhi has recorded 1,507 cases (as on July 26, 2013) and 16 deaths. The disease had last created a panic-like situation in Delhi in 2009-10.

Talking about the preparations, Delhi Health Minister A. K. Walia said: “We are concerned about the situation and are putting in place some measures to ensure that the rise is controlled. All city hospitals have been asked to follow the H1N1 protocol, including ensuring isolation wards with dedicated staff for patients coming in with the flu. The State government is also looking at ensuring enough supply and availability of Tamiflu at all centres”.

Doctors in the city have confirmed that they have been seeing cases of swine flu since early this year.

Swine flu was at its most virulent form in the country when it spread in 2009. Till May 2010, 1,035 people had died of the disease in India and more than 10,000 were infected."

India : Girl tests positive for A (H1N1) flu in Coimbatore

Via The Hindu, excerpt :

" A girl aged four-and-a-half was admitted to the isolation ward of the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) on Thursday after she tested positive for A (H1N1) influenza. A 55-year-old man from the neighbouring Tirupur District is already undergoing treatment in the ward, while a 79-year-old man from that district died last Sunday of the flu at the CMCH.

Public health authorities, however, are not seeing any chance of an outbreak, despite three cases being reported in less than a week. They contend that the flu virus is already in the community owing to previous occurrences since 2009. Only sporadic cases is different groups will occur and not as a cluster.

The condition of the man and the girl is stable, the authorities said. Contact treatment – providing oseltamivir tablets to all those who were in close contact with the patients – is being done. Health authorities in Tirupur carried out this process with the relatives of the man who died of the flu and also the man undergoing treatment in Coimbatore. The authorities in Coimbatore identified the relatives and other close contacts of the girl’s family at Kovilpalayam and began treatment soon after the case was established as positive."

India : Woman dies of swine flu, 3 in serious condition

Via The Hindu :

" A 48-year-old woman died of swine flu at the Sahyadri Hospital here on Wednesday, while three more patients continue to be on ventilator support in various city hospitals. Apart from these cases, there are 10 patients who have been diagnosed positive for the H1N1 virus, district health officials said. This is the fourth death in Maharashtra due to the virus this year, and the first in Pune.

Increased precaution

Confirming the death, State swine flu surveillance officer Pradip Awate said that while these were “sporadic cases,” precautionary measures were being stepped up. “The victim was also diagnosed with pancreatitis, so the immunity level was already low. There are three more patients who are critical in the city. We are taking the current scenario very seriously. There is no need to panic, but people should not ignore infections such as common cold.”

Soham Bhatavdekar, Manager (Operations), Sahyadri Hospital, said the victim, who hailed from Baramati, was admitted three days ago, and was diagnosed with the virus."

India : State keeps vigil against poultry diseases

Via The Hindu :

" The government has stepped up surveillance against avian influenza and Ranikhet disease in Kerala to prevent an outbreak of the dreaded poultry diseases.

The Department of Animal Husbandry has intensified vigil at border checkpoints following an outbreak of Ranikhet disease in a poultry farm at Andipatty in Theni district of Tamil Nadu.

Vigilance squads and rapid action teams have been deployed to inspect vehicles bringing poultry from across the border. Byroutes used by truck operators to smuggle poultry consignments into the State are also being closely monitored.

Animal Husbandry Director R. Vijayakumar told The Hindu that all poultry imports from other States were being physically verified for symptoms of the viral disease. “We have been maintaining a strict vigil in the border areas for the last two weeks, especially at the checkpoints in Idukki and Palakkad through which most of the animal and bird import takes place,” he said. The inspection teams have been directed to submit samples of chicken with suspected infection for biological examination."

India leads in rotavirus infection deaths: Lancet

Via The Hindu :

" Close to one lakh children below the age of five years died of diarrhoea attributable to rotavirus infection in 2008, accounting for 22 per cent of the total deaths reported globally, reports the latest edition of the Lancet Infection Diseases magazine.

Diarrhoea related with the rotavirus infection resulted in 453,000 deaths worldwide in 2008 among children younger than five years—37 per cent of deaths attributable to diarrhoea with five countries accounting for more than half of all deaths attributable to such infection: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria and Pakistan. Introduction of effective and available rotavirus vaccines in other countries, mostly middle-income or poorer, could substantially reduce worldwide deaths attributable to diarrhoea, the paper has suggested.

In this new study, Dr. Jacqueline E. Tate and Dr. Umesh D. Parashar, Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, US, and colleagues did a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies with at least 100 children younger than five years who had been admitted to hospital with diarrhoea. They also included data from countries that participated in the WHO-coordinated Global Rotavirus Surveillance Network. Studies were classified into one of five groups on the basis of region and the level of child mortality in the country in which the study was done.

Estimate of deaths

The authors note that their estimate of deaths due to rotavirus-related diarrhoea in 2008 is somewhat lower than the previous estimate of 527 000 deaths in 2004, saying the difference is largely because of an overall decrease in diarrhoea-related deaths in children younger than 5 years from 1·8 million in 2003 to 1·2 million in 2008. “However,” they add, “we do not know what proportion of this decrease is due to a true decline in diarrhoea-related mortality and what proportion is due to a change in the methods used to estimate the number of diarrhoea-related deaths."

India : Delhi hit by dengue, malaria cases

Via The Hindu :

" Already grappling with various allergies and viral fever, Delhi has registered 479 dengue cases, 218 malaria cases, 12 cases of chikungunya and five confirmed cases of Japanese Encephalitis this season.

Though Delhi Health Minister Dr. A.K. Walia said the figures were not alarming and that the situation was under control, he, however, admitted that there was a need for more aggressive public participation in ensuring that breeding of disease-causing mosquitoes stays under control.

“We have recorded four dengue deaths this season but compared to previous years the number of deaths is lower. As for private hospitals reporting a larger number of dengue deaths, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi does not take into account the over 30 per cent dengue cases treated in Delhi but are from outside the Capital. We also do not take into account dengue cases that test positive on the dengue fever rapid test kit."

India : Concern over spread of dengue

Via The Hindu :

" People of Bagalkot district, especially those in Mudhol and Jamkhandi taluks, fear that dengue may claim more lives if the authorities fail to initiate measures immediately to prevent its spread.

In the last two months, seven persons have succumbed to dengue and 37 suspected cases have been reported in the district.

According to official sources, steps are being taken to contain the spread of the disease, including fogging in areas from where dengue cases were reported. People have been instructed to maintain cleanliness in their surroundings and prevent water stagnation."

India : Three more die of Leptospirosis

More fatalities due to leptospirosis are being reported from Kerala, India. News from The Hindu :

" Three persons, who were reportedly undergoing treatment for leptospirosis at the government medical college here died on Sunday.

The deceased are V.Govindan, 65, from Kannur, A. Gangadharan, 50 from Malappuram and K. Kallalan 55, from Kasaragod.

The District Medical Officer (DMO) P.K. Mohanan however said that the health department was yet to confirm the cause of the death. "

India : Three more dengue cases in capital, total affected reaches 92

Article from The Hindu, more dengue cases being reported :

" Dengue cases in the city reached the 92 mark after three new patients tested positive for the mosquito—borne disease.

“Three people have tested positive for dengue virus in the last couple of days. The total number of people affected by the fever is 92,” Dr V K Monga, Chairman, Public Health Committee, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, said.

The MCD has already ‘challaned’ over 5,749 organisations so far and sent legal notices to over 57,820 people.

“Mosquito breeding has been found in 54,763 houses till now. This is the highest number of checks conducted by MCD,” Dr. Monga said.

The MCD launched its anti-dengue drive after the civic agency found many mosquito breeding grounds in government offices and houses following the intermittent rains."

India : One more Hepatitis A case reported

Via The Hindu :

" Even as the district Health authorities claim that Hepatitis A situation reported from some areas of Kothamangalam taluk is under control, one more case was reported from Kadavoor in Paingattoor grama panchayat on Sunday.

State Epidemiologist Dr. Sukumaran will visit the district on Monday to study the situation.

On Saturday, six Hepatitis A cases were reported from Kadavoor and one from Neriyamangalam while five cases were reported from Kadavoor and two from Piravom on Friday.

Field visits by the Health authorities had revealed contaminated well water as the source of Hepatitis A in the hilly terrain of Kadavoor, where pit toilets are still in use, which could be contaminating open wells.

Nine out of the 10 wells tested by the Health staff were found to be contaminated.

Four deaths so far

Four people had so far died of complications due to Hepatitis A.

Many people who had consumed toddy from local toddy shops had reported with Hepatitis A. Initially, except one woman, all others who were reported with the disease were men."

India : Two deaths confirmed due to dengue

Via The Hindu :

" The district health authorities here on Tuesday confirmed that two children, one four-year-old boy - Dhanush - and a 10-month-old-infant - Zaayed - have died due to dengue.

Another patient who had tested positive for dengue is recovering and ready to be discharged from Mahaveer Hospitals, officials said.

The district health officials said that Dhanush hailed from Gudimalkpur region while Zaayed belonged to Langar Houz area. The authorities said that there has been a spate of suspected dengue cases in and around the Langar Houz area in the past one week. “The dengue tests conducted by Veterinary Biological Research Institute (VBRI), Mehdipatnam have come positive. The other third case is recovering normally,” said Hyderabad District Medical and Health Officer (DM&HO), Dr. B. L. Veena Kumari."

India : College student dies of dengue

Another article from The Hindu, fatality due to dengue, excerpt :

" 20-year-old woman from Sasihitlu, near Surathkal, who was a B.Com student, died of dengue here on Thursday night.

With this, two persons had died of dengue in the district this year.

According to District Surveillance Officer Rajesh B.V., 20-year-old Swapna had fever and was admitted to a private hospital in Mukka 10 days ago.

Later, she was shifted to a nursing home at Kudroli. She was in a critical state when she was brought to the Urban Medical Centre on the premises of Kasturba Medical College Ambedkar Circle on July 11.

Dr. Rajesh said Swapna died of multi-organ failure resulting from Dengue on Thursday night."

India : Disease-control steps being strengthened

Via The Hindu :

" The Health Department has directed its health supervisors to strengthen disease prevention and control activities at the field-level as viral fevers, including dengue and H1N1 cases, may go up as the monsoon intensifies.

The Director of Health Services (DHS) convened a meeting on Friday to review the epidemic situation in various districts. Diagnostic and treatment facilities and an adequate supply of drugs have been kept ready in hospitals and laboratories. Vector-control activities, including source reduction, fogging and spraying, and chlorination, are being carried out in all districts to check outbreaks of vector-borne and water-borne diseases.

Outbreak patterns

Health officials said the disease and outbreak patterns in the districts were the same as in every monsoon season. The situation in Alappuzha was under control. No more fresh cases of Japanese Encephalitis had been reported. Though 34 cases of H1N1 had been reported, it was not because the district was particularly vulnerable to the infection, rather as part of a survey, more samples had been sent for testing.

Only a few samples were being sent for testing from the districts. These were strictly for surveillance purpose as the virus was in circulation and community spread of the infection had been established."