This story is from November 4, 2019

Swine flu claims 6th victim in Lucknow

The city has recorded its first swine flu death since August with a 51-year-old man succumbing to the highly contagious disease caused by the H1N1 virus.
Swine flu claims 6th victim in Lucknow
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LUCKNOW: The city has recorded its first swine flu death since August with a 51-year-old man succumbing to the highly contagious disease caused by the H1N1 virus.
Although Daliganj resident Manoj Kumar breathed his last at King George’s Medical University (KGMU) on October 19, his death was logged in the chief medical officer’s audit only on Saturday. With this, the swine flu toll in the city since January rose to six.
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Swine flu reared its ugly head, while Lucknow is barely able to cope with a dengue outbreak. The spread of the two viruses can be contained through efficient planning and coordinated efforts of health department and civic agencies. Had LMC and the department launched fogging drives in a planned manner, the dengue outbreak – now on the verge of breaking the 2016 record – could have been prevented. Swine flu has affected nearly 50 people and claimed one life in the city over the past two months, but the authorities are yet to launch awareness drives or any preventive measures in public places.


A woman from Aliganj, Ranjana Pathak (66), detected with H1N1 infection, also died at KGMU on October
19.
However, doctors have listed the cause of her death as multi-organ failure due to diabetes, hepatitis C and renal failure.
Late hospital reports delayed confirmation of death: CMO
Chief medical officer Narendra Agarwal said Kumar was admitted to the isolation ward of the emergency trauma medicine unit of KGMU with breathing difficulties and chest congestion on October
16. He was put on ventilator support on October 19, but did not make it.

On why his office took 15 days to confirm the cause of death as swine flu, Agarwal said: “Usually, a death audit is completed in three days, but the hospital records arrived late and then there were (festive) holidays.”
Speaking on Pathak’s case, Agarwal said the audit team found that she died of renal failure and hepatitis C complications. “Her brain and heart stopped functioning,” he added.
Associate professor of medicine D Himanshu reiterated that Pathak was admitted with respiratory problems and died of multiple complications arising out of failed kidneys and liver.
The swine flu season, according to the health department, begins around August and lasts till March.
Out of 550 cases this year, 511 were reported in the first season (January-March) and 39 since August. As many as 250 people had tested positive in February, followed by 214 in March. The patient count was much less at 27 in January and 30 in April.
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