71-yr-old dies of H1N1

Kolkata: A 71-year-old man suffering from swine flu died in Salt Lake on June 19. The deceased has been identified as Tapan Kumar Karmakar and was admitted to a private hospital in Salt Lake on June 14. He died around 12.35 am on June 19. According to doctors, the patient died due to H1N1 pneumonia leading to septic shock, which eventually resulted in multi-organ failure.

Three more persons are said to be treated in the same private hospital where Karmakar was admitted. These patients are said to be from Salt Lake and its surrounding areas.

From the start of this year, several cases of swine flu have been reported throughout Kolkata and Salt Lake.

A 10-month-old girl from Beltolla Road in Bhowanipore died of swine flu in a Park Circus nursing home in February this year. Another case was that of 85-year-old Snehalata Das, who died of the virus in February, was admitted to a private hospital in Salt Lake with breathing problem. Later, tests were conducted which confirmed H1N1.

Three members of a Lake Gardens family were hospitalised with swine flu four months back, joining the growing list of persons affected with the H1N1 virus that resurfaced at the fag end of winter. In hospitals across the city, many patients have been admitted with influenza symptoms and were diagnosed with H1N1. Out Patient Departments and clinics have also received scores of patients with the usual symptoms of swine flu — fever, cough, sore throat, muscle pain, nausea, headache and, occasionally, severe stomach pain. According to reports, some doctors have also cited a shortage of the H1N1 vaccine in the city.