Mumbai: There has been another swine flu death in India, this time in Mumbai where 53-year-old Fahmida Panwala, who had tested positive for the H1N1 virus, died at the Kasturba Hospital in the city on Saturday.
She died of acute respiratory distress.
According to hospital sources, the woman came in on Friday with a highly complicated case of diabetes and hypertension.
Earlier this week, 14-year-old schoolgirl Reeda Sheikh became the first victim of swine flu in India when she died of the chronic disease in Pune.
PTI adds:
The patient tested positive of H1N1 after a swab test, said Umesh Aigal, Chief Medical Superintendent, Kasturba hospital.
Mumbai civic body officials said Panwala was first admitted to a private nursing home at Jogeshwari locality with swine flu symptoms three days back and shifted to Leelawati Hospital on Friday when her condition showed no sign of improvement. After a three-hour stay at Leelawati, she was transferred to Kasturba Hospital on Friday itself.
Her swab was sent to National Institute of Virology in Pune on Friday night for test whose result on Saturday confirmed she was suffering from the disease.
Jairaj Thalekar, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Health Officer, said Panwala had been suffering from fever for the past seven days.
She was given Tamiflu even before the test report came from NIV and put on ventilator as she developed acute respiratory problem.