Commonground
Senior Moderator
Kounteya Sinha, TNN 2 September 2009, 02:39am IST
NEW DELHI: Around 44% of those who died of H1N1 swine flu in India till August 30 perished within three days of being hospitalised. On an average, all those who died visited two private healthcare facilities before finally reaching a designated government hospital.
Around 45% of those who died suffered from co-morbid conditions like diabetes, heart and liver diseases. These are the main findings of the health ministry's analysis of the first 82 deaths in India till August 30. The number of fatalities in the country has since risen to 101.
The age group of 16-45 years has been the worst affected with the virus, with 55 of the 82 who died belonging to this category. The virus hasn't really behaved any differently among men and women. Of the 82 deaths studied, the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) found 43 to be males and 39 females.
The time interval between hospitalisation and death oscillated from one day to 12 days. In almost 44% of the cases, the patient died within three days of being hospitalised. The average time length of onset of illness and administration of Tamilfu has been found to be just over five days. The duration is the same for onset of illness of those who died and when they reported to the hospital. Around 75% of those who died came from urban areas.
Reacting to the findings, NICD director Dr Shiv Lal said, "It is clear that delayed reporting caused most of the deaths. People must understand that reporting early to a designated H1N1 testing and treatment facility is vital. People should avoid visiting hospitals not designated for H1N1 care, which leads to loss of vital time. Patients with co-morbid conditions should be extra careful and go immediately to a designated H1N1 facility if they have swine flu symptoms."
However, one significant finding during this analysis has come especially as a relief for the country's health ministry. After studying 42 samples (National Institute of Virology-31 and NICD-11) of the H1N1 virus circulating in India, scientists have found that it had not undergone any mutation.
Globally and in India, scientists are keeping a close watch on the virus fearing it could mutate and become a deadlier bug. A mutation would also mean that the vaccines presently being developed and expected to roll out by October-end globally could become redundant.
A finding, which is also vital, is that in some countries like India, majority of those who died were in intensive care and on ventilator support. The virus till now is behaving exactly how a pandemic virus is expected to do -- infecting reproductive and the healthy age group.
The analysis showed that only one death occurred in the over 65 year category and five deaths in the 0-5 age group. The age group of 36-45 years has been worst affected with 24 deaths.
The WHO earlier had said that majority of those who got infected worldwide recovered within a week without any medical treatment. WHO has estimated that as many as 2 billion people could become infected over the next two years with swine flu, nearly one-third of the world's population.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-4960468,prtpage-1.cms
NEW DELHI: Around 44% of those who died of H1N1 swine flu in India till August 30 perished within three days of being hospitalised. On an average, all those who died visited two private healthcare facilities before finally reaching a designated government hospital.
Around 45% of those who died suffered from co-morbid conditions like diabetes, heart and liver diseases. These are the main findings of the health ministry's analysis of the first 82 deaths in India till August 30. The number of fatalities in the country has since risen to 101.
The age group of 16-45 years has been the worst affected with the virus, with 55 of the 82 who died belonging to this category. The virus hasn't really behaved any differently among men and women. Of the 82 deaths studied, the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) found 43 to be males and 39 females.
The time interval between hospitalisation and death oscillated from one day to 12 days. In almost 44% of the cases, the patient died within three days of being hospitalised. The average time length of onset of illness and administration of Tamilfu has been found to be just over five days. The duration is the same for onset of illness of those who died and when they reported to the hospital. Around 75% of those who died came from urban areas.
Reacting to the findings, NICD director Dr Shiv Lal said, "It is clear that delayed reporting caused most of the deaths. People must understand that reporting early to a designated H1N1 testing and treatment facility is vital. People should avoid visiting hospitals not designated for H1N1 care, which leads to loss of vital time. Patients with co-morbid conditions should be extra careful and go immediately to a designated H1N1 facility if they have swine flu symptoms."
However, one significant finding during this analysis has come especially as a relief for the country's health ministry. After studying 42 samples (National Institute of Virology-31 and NICD-11) of the H1N1 virus circulating in India, scientists have found that it had not undergone any mutation.
Globally and in India, scientists are keeping a close watch on the virus fearing it could mutate and become a deadlier bug. A mutation would also mean that the vaccines presently being developed and expected to roll out by October-end globally could become redundant.
A finding, which is also vital, is that in some countries like India, majority of those who died were in intensive care and on ventilator support. The virus till now is behaving exactly how a pandemic virus is expected to do -- infecting reproductive and the healthy age group.
The analysis showed that only one death occurred in the over 65 year category and five deaths in the 0-5 age group. The age group of 36-45 years has been worst affected with 24 deaths.
The WHO earlier had said that majority of those who got infected worldwide recovered within a week without any medical treatment. WHO has estimated that as many as 2 billion people could become infected over the next two years with swine flu, nearly one-third of the world's population.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-4960468,prtpage-1.cms