H1N1 claims another life in Kolkata

KOLKATA: A 63-year-old man from Dum Dum who tested positive to H1N1 died at AMRI Hospital Salt Lake on Tuesday. Asit Basu, resident of Dum Dum was admitted in the hospital on December 14. His death certificate mentions sepsis with multi organ failure because of H1N1 and influenza A.
Doctors said that the patient was rushed to the hospital with acute respiratory distress. Along with the swine flu, the patient was affected by severe pneumonia.His death certificate also mentions pneumonia and disseminated intravascular coagulation among the causes of death.
“This patient came in with acute respiratory problem, Though he was being managed with non-invasive ventilation, we had to switch over to mechanical ventilation later due to his deteriorating condition,” said Dr Susruta Bandyopadhyay. The patient was admitted under the critical care expert.
The first death was reported in August this year when a 54-year-old woman from Kakdwip died at CMRI during treatment for swine flu. The last reported death was from Salt Lake in November when a 49-year-old woman died of swine flu related complications in a private hospital.
Under normal conditions the season for swine flu is from May to August. The virus starts circulating by May, thrive during monsoons, and retreats by August end. But virologists say that some sporadic cases may happen round the year.
An H1N1 outbreak in 2015 claimed at least 25 lives in the state while around 500 were affected. But the virus did not resurface in 2016 in a major way. Only a few sporadic cases were reported. It reappeared again in 2017, affecting more than 200 and killing at least 20.