2 more deaths take H1N1 toll to 30 in Mumbai

MUMBAI: Two more succumbed to complications arising out of an H1N1 viral infection, civic officials said on Saturday. The toll due to H1N1, also known as swine flu, thus touched 30 in the city even as the state-wide toll climbed to 277 since January.
''Two patients died in Kasturba Hospital due to H1N1. While one was a 38-year-old man from Mira Road and a 42-year-old woman from Raigad,’’ said BMC epidemiology chief Dr Mangala Gomare.However, she pointed out that only nine of the 30 dead patients belonged to Mumbai. ''Mumbai has been different this year. While many are getting diagnosed, mortality has been lower than in other parts of the country,’’ she added.
A doctor who didn’t want to be named said that the virus has been behaving differently this year. ''It is not easy to say whether the virus has mutated or not without adequate genetic studies, but there is no denying that H1N1 is behaving differently. For instance, we notice H1N1 only in May in Mumbai, with a peak in the rainy season. This is possibly the first time that we have H1N1 deaths in Mumbai in winter,’’ said the doctor.
Meanwhile, 43 patients were diagnosed with H1N1 in the Friday-Saturday period ending on Saturday. While 18 are being treated on out-patient department basis, 25 who are in hospital are stable, said the BMC data. At the same time, nine patients from outside Mumbai are admitted to various hospitals in the city. All are stable, said the BMC report.
Regarding the two H1N1 victims, Dr Gomare said that both didn’t have any chronic underlying diseases that were usually seen with other victims. Both were admitted to local hospitals before being shifted to civic-run Kasturba Hospital near Saat Rasta on March 11. They died on late on Friday due to pneumonia brought on by the H1N1 infection.
WEATHER BOX
The city witnessed slight showers early on Saturday morning, bringing down the maximum temperature considerably. In the 24 hours between March 13 and 14, Colaba recorded traces of rainfall and Santa Cruz recorded 1.7 mm of rainfall. The maximum temperature, which had been hovering around 25 degree Celsius in the last few days, fell to 32.7 degree Celsius in Colaba and 32 degree Celsius in Santa Cruz.
The weather bureau said the showers were the result of a low pressure that had developed between Lakshwadeep and Madhya Maharashtra. Hailstorms were reported in areas like Nashik, even as the Regional Meteorological Centre Mumbai has said that the cloudy cover may continue and a shower can be expected once again. K SHosalikar, Deputy Director General of the Regional Meteorological Centrr in Mumbai, said, “ A low pressure has developed, leading to slight showers that can occur in the next 24 hours again. Isolated rains in other areas of Konkan and scanty rain in madhya Maharashtra too were recorded.”