Swine flu kills 13 within a fortnight in Andhra - total 16

[Treyfish]

September 15, 2009 20:05 IST

Swine flu has claimed 13 lives in Andhra Pradesh in the last 15 days, and a worried state government has assured people that the facility to treat the pandemic will be soon available in all government hospitals and the majority of private hospitals.
A woman from Warangal district, who was undergoing treatment at Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad, succumbed to the flu on Tuesday evening, taking the toll to 13.
Shocked by an incident in which a 24-year-old patient died in Hyderabad, after he was made to run around four hospitals due to the unavailability of adequate beds and ventilator for treatment, the government has assured that steps were being taken to provide necessary facilities to tackle the flu.
"I am reviewing the situation three or even four times a day," Chief Minister K Rosaiah said on Tuesday.
The chief minister urged the people not to panic and appealed to the media, particularly electronic media, to create awareness among the people and educate them on the precautions to be taken to prevent the spread of the disease.

Rosaiah said the state government was making an effort to procure the maximum number of ventilators and beds to treat swine flu in as many hospitals as possible, and requested private hospitals to cooperate with the government.

Meanwhile, a senior IAS officer from the state has also tested positive for swine flu. Nalgonda District Collector SMA Rizvi was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Hyderabad after he was diagnosed to be suffering from swine flu.

So far, nearly 300 people have tested positive for the disease in Andhra Pradesh, since the first case was detected on May 16. http://news.rediff.com/report/2009/s...-in-andhra.htm

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Swine flu kills 13 within a fortnight in Andhra

Hyderabad sees spurt in H1N1 cases
R Akhileshwari, Hyderabad, Sep 16, DH News Service:

Hyderabad has been witnessing a spurt in A(H1N1) influenza cases, said to be as a result of change in weather and the mutating flu virus.


The city has recorded 14 deaths due to A(H1N1) infection, five of them in the last three days. The government-run Gandhi Hospital was once again the scene of another A(H1N1)-related death, with Santoshi, a patient from jangaon in Warangal district, succumbing to the infection on Tuesday. The first A(H1N1) case in the country was reported in Hyderabad on May 16. The city reported its first victim to the virus on September 2.

Health experts believe the A(H1N1) virus has been mutating with local variants to become more virulent, with low temperatures and wet weather providing an ideal breeding ground.

As a way of substantiating their claims, they say that patients are dying within 24 to 48 hours after being infected by the virus. "The virus is not giving any chance to the doctors to treat the patient. That's why even patients with good immunity are dying," said Dr E A Ashok Kumar, superintendent of the government-run Gandhi hospital here.

Dr S V Prasad, superintendent of the government-run Chest Hospital?the nodal agency for swine flu treatment?believed the virus must have undergone change in its genetic make-up as it seem to affect patients faster than before. Given its virulence, Dr Prasad said the present virus must have emerged from the one imported from abroad, which has mutated with local variants.
Meanwhile, authorities at government-run hospitals are forced to turn away the increasing number of patients with A(H1N1) symptoms due to lack of equipment and space.
Corporate hospitals are also closing their doors for Flu patients, fearing that they would spread the virus inside their campuses.

The case of 20-year-old Ashish Raj was an unfortunate one as he had been turned away by no less than three hospitals. Raj was sent away on Saturday by a corporate hospital and two government ones, including Chest Hospital.

Osmania Government Hospital finally admitted him after considerable begging and pleading from Raj's relatives, before death had put an end to his plight.

Government hospitals reasoned that Raj could have been turned away since they were short of beds and some crucial equipment like ventilators. The Chest Hospital, however, had no such reasons. On Sunday, it admitted S A M Rizvi, District Collector of Nalgonda.

Rizvi was taken in as he was suspected to have A(H1N1) influenza. He was later moved to a corporate hospital, where he is said to be recovering. District officials confirmed that Rizvi tested positive for A(H1N1).

A major worry for the government is that the virus seems to be affecting people with no travel history. The state has taken measures to prevent the infection from spiralling into a major epidemic. It has set up screening centres in all district hospitals from Tuesday and would keep Hyderabad's Institute of Preventive Medicine open 24 hours a day.

Chief Minister K Rosaiah has promised that the state has enough Tamiflu stocks to tackle the escalating cases.

Meanwhile, the number of cases in Hyderabad is on the rise, with health officials confirming that the figure now stands at 319.

Rosaiah said the government has decided to include A(H1N1) cases as part of the Arogyasri insurance scheme for the poor, since the cost of treatment is Rs 9,000 per patient.

This is likely to benefit those below poverty line?who form a majority of A(H1N1) cases?holding ration cards. The benefit is significant, as treatment cost can go up to Rs 60,000 per patient.

http://www.deccanherald.com/contents/70/national.html

[Pathfinder]

Re: Swine flu kills 13 within a fortnight in Andhra

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 16, 2009

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Swine flu: 2 more die, 36 critical

Toll rises to 15, patients put on ventilator in different hospitals in the city
Of 43 samples sent recently, 15 test positive for swine flu


HYDERABAD: Apart from claiming two more lives in the city, swine flu on Tuesday had 36 patients on ventilator and even made its presence felt among the medical fraternity and hospital support staff.

The death toll in the city rose to 15 with two more patients at Gandhi and Aware Global Hospitals succumbing to the disease here on Wednesday. According to officials, Santoshi who got admitted in Gandhi Hospital a few days ago left the hospital while undergoing treatment and joined a corporate hospital. She was shifted back and died on Wednesday evening. Another patient Madan Kumar died at Aware Global on Wednesday night too, officials informed.

Meanwhile, of the 43 samples that were tested for the swine flu on Wednesday, 15 were found to be positive. ?Few more reports are expected and we have information of about 36 patients being put on ventilator in different hospitals in the city,? informed District Medical and Health Officer Ch. Jaya Kumari.

Spreading tentacles, swine flu also appears set to give anxious moments to the medical fraternity. The swine flu positive cases included a private medical practitioner and three of his family members, apart from two nurses. ?The doctor at Gowlipura along with his wife and two children was found to be swine flu positive,? she said.

The A.P. Government General and Chest Hospital, where most of the swine flu cases are screened and treated, two nurses were also found to be affected by the disease, authorities informed. About the condition of Nalgonda district Collector, S.A.M.Rizwi, Chest Hospital Superintendent S.V. Prasad said, ?he was doing fine and was advised home quarantine?.

More ventilators


Meanwhile, Chief Minister K. Rosaiah said the government was making efforts to procure as many ventilators and beds as possible in hospitals to treat patients.

In an effort to build the confidence of people in the wake of panic over spread of H1N1 flu, Mr. Rosaiah said that the government was fully alive to the situation and taking all measures to contain the spread of the disease.

He also requested the private hospitals to cooperate with the government in tackling H1N1 flu and other seasonal diseases.

The Chief Minister who was reviewing the situation three to four times a day with the Health Department officials advised people not to panic over the flu virus and made an appeal to media, particularly electronic media to create awareness and educate people about the precautions to be taken to prevent spread of the Swine Flu.

Entire government machinery had been geared up to take all possible measures and doctors all over the State, particularly in Hyderabad told to help people in distress. Citing reports about shortage of masks for doctors in hospitals, he said sufficient quantity of medicines and masks would be provided in all hospitals.

http://www.thehindu.com/2009/09/16/stories/2009091658220300.htm

[Treyfish]

Re: Swine flu kills 13 within a fortnight in Andhra - total 15

Three more swine flu deaths in city; toll 16

TNN 16 September 2009, 06:26am IST
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<!-- google_ad_section_start -->HYDERABAD: With three more deaths on Tuesday, the state?s swine flu toll has gone up to 16. Madan Mohan, a Home Guard from Kurnool, died of H1N1 flu <TABLE style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 4px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 8px" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD id=bellyad></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 0px 0px; CLEAR: both" class=cnt width=200 align=left><TBODY></TBODY></TABLE>at the Global Hospital in L B Nagar. Rajitha, A 25-year-old housewife from Medak district died at Gandhi Hospital on Tuesday evening.

In the third case, a 25-year-old woman K Santoshi, native of Warangal district died at Gandhi Hospital even as samples of another patient, Mohammed Osman, who had died at OGH on September 13, tested positive for swine flu on Tuesday taking the death toll to 16.

Earlier, Osmania General Hospital resident medical officer Dr Sudha Rani confirmed to TOI that Ashish Raj, 25-year-old resident of Vanasthalipuram, who died at OGH on September 13 also tested positive for swine flu. On Tuesday, 15 more people tested positive for swine flu. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/n...ow/5016610.cms

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[Shiloh]

Re: Swine flu kills 13 within a fortnight in Andhra - total 16

Not sure of the total number reported in this article...but it notes recent victims and the fact that health care workers are ill...

Source: http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/s...7MFxnS0yZ7ng==

Killer virus claims 2 more lives; toll rises 12


Express News Service
First Published : 16 Sep 2009 07:34:47 AM IST
Last Updated : 16 Sep 2009 10:50:38 AM IST

HYDERABAD: Two more died of swine flu here on Tuesday, taking its toll to 12 in the State and in an alarming development, three nurses and 14 junior doctors contracted the virus. Two others too died due to flu-like symptoms but there was no official confirmation of the same. Of the two, who succumbed to the infection, one was a 27-year-old woman from Jangaon, Warangal district. Identified as Santoshi, she died within minutes after being admitted to the Gandhi Hospital. Doctors said she had approached them about a week ago but was then shifted to a private hospital. She was brought back to the Gandhi Hospital with multi-organ disfunction and respiratory problems.

The second victim was a homeguard, Madan Kumar, who was admitted to a private hospital at LB Nagar a couple of days ago. He died this evening. Meanwhile, it seems there is no safety for doctors and nurses leave alone patients at the Chest and Gandhi hospitals with the authorities concerned failing to supply even protective gear.

Three nurses, two of the Gandhi Hospital and one of the Chest Hospital, contracted the virus on Tuesday and are under treatment at the same hospitals. Sources said the nurses were not provided masks, hand-gloves and the like while attending to suspected swine flu patients.

??None of the hospital officials is taking minimum safety measures suggested by the World Health Organisation. We ourselves haven?t seen how the prescribed N95 masks look like! We are forced to buy surgical masks ourselves but they are not effective,?? said Dr Raghu Kishore, president of the Andhra Pradesh Junior Doctors? Association.

According to him, five junior doctors at the Gandhi Hospital and nine from the Osmania Hospital tested positive for influenza A H1N1.

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Swine flu kills 13 within a fortnight in Andhra - total 16

After a bit of digging, I found this report of the very first death in AP. It happened on Aug 15, but was not confirmed until Sep 15. Rapid deterioration and death due to multiple organ failure;

First swine flu casualty in Hyderabad?


ENS First Published : 16 Aug 2009 08:28:00 AM ISTLast Updated :


HYDERABAD: Confusion prevailed over the death of a 36-year-old man here on Saturday after doctors at the Apollo Hospital and the Chest Hospital gave contradictory versions of the case. While the corporate hospital said he could have been suffering from swine flu, the latter maintained that the patient had died due to multipleorgan failure.


Umesh Kumar Agarwal, a resident of Ghansi Bazar in the Old City, had gone to Varanasi and returned on Saturday. He was rushed to the Apollo Hospital in an
ambulance soon after he alighted at the railway station. He was initially treated by the Infectious Diseases consultant and based on the patient?s history and the symptoms he exhibited, the hospital authorities suspected it to be a case of swine flu. ??Agarwal was referred to the Chest Hospital and he was sent there in the same ambulance,?? Apollo Hospitals said.

The Chest Hospital said Umesh Kumar was admitted at 11.45 a.m. with respiratory distress, high fever and cold. He died while undergoing treatment around 3 p.m. Swine Flu Nodal Centre Coordinator K Subhakar also clarified that Agarwal did not die of swine flu and said he had succumbed to multiple-organ failure

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=First+swine+flu+casualty+in+Hyderabad?&artid=ejjJ2YsxPGg=&SectionID=xAV59odivTs=&MainSectionID=f4OberbKin4=&SectionName=BUzPVSKuYv7MFxnS0yZ7ng==&SEO=

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Swine flu kills 13 within a fortnight in Andhra - total 16

Flu scares doctors away
September 17th, 2009
By Our Correspondent Hyderabad

Sept. 16: With swine flu situation getting worse, doctors and nurses are scared of getting afflicted with the virus and are keeping away from their duties in several government-run hospitals like in Gandhi Hospital.
Doctors are urged the government to provide N95 respiratory masks and other protective equipment like that provided to the medical staff of private hospitals. After the incident of two nurses getting the virus, two doctors of other hospitals were tested positive for swine flu on Wednesday. One more person is suspected to have died of H1N1 virus at the Gandhi Hospital on Wednesday.Though the money allocated for swine flu health officials are not enough to buy protective gears, the AP health, medical housing and infrastructure development corporation will be buying the equipment.
?The blood samples of a woman who died at Gandhi have been sent for testing. We are awaiting the report,? said Jaya Kumari, the DMHO. Some of the doctors and medical staff deputed at the airport have not been turning up.The private hospitals in the city have asked the government to conduct clinical study on the pattern and other aspects of the virus in the state. The DMHO, Ch. Jaya Kumari, said: ?Global Aware Hospital at L.B. Nagar has asked us to conducting study on the pattern of the disease. They need to conduct more tests after the patient is discharged.?

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/hyderabad/flu-scares-doctors-away-824

[Treyfish]

Re: Swine flu kills 13 within a fortnight in Andhra - total 16

Swine flu spreading fast in A.P.


Special Correspondent



<TABLE border=0 width="100%" bgColor=#d0f0ff><TBODY><TR><TD>Claims its second victim in Mahabubnagar </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>



<HR color=lightblue noShade>Condition of another woman said to be critical
Two others are undergoing treatmentHYDERABAD: The swine flu virus, which was hitherto confined to a few cities in Andhra Pradesh, claimed its second victim in Mahabubnagar district on Thursday as the disease spread fast to new areas. A suspected patient was quarantined in Guntur.
According to information reaching here, Saritha of Peddapur village in Veldanda mandal in Mahabubnagar district, died at a private hospital in Hyderabad in the early hours on Thursday. Saritha who gave birth to a girl child at Kalwakurthy hospital, a few days ago, developed breathing problems and symptoms of swine flu. Doctors at Kalwakurthy referred her to Hyderabad where she died while undergoing treatment. Another woman, Renuka (25), has been admitted to a private hospital in Mahabubnagar, where her condition was said to be critical. Two other persons, Anjaneyulu and Kishore, are undergoing treatment at government headquarters hospital.
Woman quarantined


Guntur Staff Reporter adds:
A woman in Krishna Nagar was quarantined on Thursday at her home after her husband, a post graduate student pursuing Nephrology course in Hyderabad, tested positive for the A(H1N1) virus. She seemed to have contracted the virus from her husband who visited Guntur, a few days ago. Doctors assured her she would be stable within a couple of days. The couple has a four-year-old child. Doctors classified the infection under category D and said that it occurs due to contact with an infected person.
Government General Hospital Superintendent D. Phanibhushan said that the staff at the GGH and the Fever Hospital on the Amaravathi Road were on the alert following spread of the disease. The GGH had stock of 300 boxes of Tamiflu medicine and made arrangements for procuring more if necessary, he said.http://www.hindu.com/2009/09/18/stor...1856620600.htm

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Swine flu kills 13 within a fortnight in Andhra - total 16

Swine flu: doctors back off

Staff Reporter

Say they were not provided protective gear to treat patients

Argue with patients having flu-like symptoms

Gandhi superintendent disputes doctors? claim

HYDERABAD: Gandhi Hospital got mired in fresh trouble on Friday, as doctors refused to treat patients as they were not provided with protective gear to shield them against H1N1 virus.
As the number of patients swelled at the swine flu screening centre, there were heated arguments with patients suffering from flu-like symptoms demanding immediate treatment and the doctors refusing to attend to them. The situation slipped out of control, as angry patients rushed to the superintendent?s chamber.

Tough time

The patients? protests coincided with the visit of Minister for Medical Education P. Sudarshan Reddy and other top health officials to the hospital. The Minister had a tough time in pacifying the agitated patients and their attendants.

Doctors, house surgeons, nurses and lab technicians of the swine flu screening ward in the hospital refused to work after their colleagues tested positive for swine flu. ?The government is not giving us a sense of security. We are not given the protective equipment and life insurance cover. There is a sense of insecurity among us,? hospital doctors complained.
However, the hospital superintendent Dr. E.A. Ashok Kumar disputed the claim and maintained that the protective gear was indeed issued to doctors.

?All doctors are to work from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the swine flu screening centre. Disciplinary action will be taken against those not working,? he warned.

Hospital?s version


The hospital management on Friday said that all the protective gear, including 30 N95 masks and other personnel protective equipment, was distributed. ?We did not receive any masks or protection equipment for technicians.
The ailment is life-threatening and we can?t take risk,? a house surgeon said.

The house surgeons pointed out that they worked for more than one hour on Friday morning without wearing even a common three-layered mask.

The patients, however, were not at all concerned about the plight of the doctors. Angry patients tried to corner Minister Sudarshan Reddy, who assured them all possible help.

http://www.hindu.com/2009/09/19/stories/2009091960150300.htm

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Swine flu kills 13 within a fortnight in Andhra - total 16

H1N1 outbreak: authorities fail to ?see? it coming city Pulse

M. Sai Gopal

State average of swine flu deaths way above the national average

Officialdom fails to realise the importance of having more testing centres for H1N1

Patients from districts are being referred in droves to the hospitals in the capital



HYDERABAD: The ever-increasing number of H1N1 deaths in the State and utter chaos at swine flu screening centres has exposed the inherent frailties in the State government?s response to swine flu outbreak. What could have been a ?containable? outbreak, thanks to the failure of authorities to ?see? it coming, has now become a pandemic, threatening to claim more lives in the coming months.

The signals were there for all to see but nobody anticipated. Between May and August, the first swine flu case was reported from Hyderabad in May; the State government did nothing and lost precious time. During these months authorities insisted to operate only one swine flu nodal centre at Government Chest Hospital, Erragadda and did not expand H1N1 screening centres to districts and private hospitals.

By the time more isolation wards at private and Government Hospitals were roped in, the ?imported? H1N1 virus already had mutated by mixing with local viral forms and managed to sneak into the community. Since then, between September and October, the virulent form of H1N1 virus has officially claimed 26 lives.

Several experts have claimed that the swine flu death toll has already crossed 40 in the State. If this is the case, then the State average of number of swine flu deaths with respect to the positive patients, which is over 400, is nearly ten per cent.

This is way above the national average, which is at three per cent. Only Maharashtra and Karnataka have more swine flu death average than Andhra Pradesh.

That the health infrastructure in government hospitals is crumbling is evident at Gandhi Hospital. Besieged with the swelling number of swine flu patients, the hospital has closed its outpatient services on Wednesday. As its emergency wards are filled with H1N1 cases, it had begun diverting all emergency admission cases to other hospitals already.
Furthermore, the political vacuum created after the death of Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, appears to have had a severe impact on the Government?s poor response.

The State capital was witness to a strange spectacle of the Chief Minister K. Rosaiah reviewing the swine flu situation in Gandhi Hospital, while the Health Minister D. Nagendar was busy attending condolence meetings. What enraged many was his brazen admission that condolences meetings were important for him rather than swine flu review meetings.

?The Ministers sent wrong signals to medical officers by not attending the review meeting of Chief Minister K. Rosaiah. There is no coordination among the three Ministers,? points out former member of Medical Council of India Dr. C. L. Venkat Rao.

In addition to the lack of a direction from the political executive, officials at the decision making level like the Director of Health and Commissioner of Andhra Pradesh Vaidya Vidhan Parishad (APVVP), are ?in-charge? appointees and therefore do not command total cooperation.

The government?s response to H1N1 at district-level too was found wanting. Save for ten isolation beds in each district, there are no ventilators, testing centres and trained doctors to treat H1N1 cases in districts.

As a result, patients from districts are being referred in droves to the hospitals in the capital.

Instead of making district hospitals ?self-sufficient? in treating H1N1 patients, authorities merely asserted that H1N1 virus is ?imported? and will not spread to the community.

The officialdom failed to realise the importance of having more testing centres for H1N1. The Institute of Preventive Medicine (IPM), which started testing for H1N1 recently, can only test 50 samples a day while the demand is around 200 samples. The government did not take measures to equip the five district laboratories under IPM at Warangal, Kurnool, Guntur, Visakhapatnam and Tirupati for H1N1 testing.

Experts point out that there is a need for State government to come up with an order that provides legal immunity to private doctors while treating H1N1 patients. ?A patient can initiate legal action if the doctor treats him without diagnosis. Due to this, several doctors refer patients to get tested for H1N1 at IPM first. Vital time is lost,? experts suggest. There should be a scope for doctors to prescribe swine flu treatment based on presumptive assessment instead of waiting for diagnostic results.

http://www.hindu.com/2009/09/24/stories/2009092458750300.htm

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Swine flu kills 13 within a fortnight in Andhra - total 16

Declare medical emergency?

Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD: As the situation appears to slip out of control, the question uppermost in the minds of people is whether the government should declare a medical emergency. If such an emergency is declared, following would be the benefits for people.

1. It is mandatory for all health professionals to attend duties. No festival holidays and no leaves.

2. Cancellations of postings on deputations. All deputed professionals would have to work in hospitals.

3. Scope for disciplinary action for dereliction of duties.

4. Adequate funds to be released to Health Department without administrative delays.

5. Round the clock availability of doctors at all hospitals.

6. No patient to be denied treatment on pretext of no vacancy.

7. Seamless coordination of other departments with health department.

http://www.hindu.com/2009/09/24/stories/2009092459030300.htm

[Treyfish]

Re: Swine flu kills 13 within a fortnight in Andhra - total 16

Swine flu toll 26, 13 others critical


September 24th, 2009 Hyderabad

Sept. 23: The health and family welfare minister, Mr D. Nagender, has confirmed that swine flu has claimed 26 lives in the state and 13 others are in critical condition. A large number of patients had been discharged after treatment, he added.
According to the minister, the Osmania Hospital recorded five deaths, Gandhi Hospital nine, Chest Hospital four, Apollo Hospital (Jubilee Hills) two, Aware Global five and Yashoda Hospital one. ?Twenty-six deaths have been confirmed and all of them have taken place in the city since the patients were treated here. We have all steps to check the spread of the disease,? he claimed. Meanwhile, the Gandhi Hospital has decided to entertain only swine flu patients due to the rise in their numbers.http://www.deccanchronicle.com/hyder...s-critical-355