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Swine flu outbreak spreads:
Mexico has raised the probable death toll from an outbreak of swine
flu to 81, including 20 already confirmed. Jose Angel Cordova, the
country's health minister, said on Saturday that since April 13,
"there have been 81 registered deaths which are probably linked to
the virus of which....Read Full
World on alert as
Mexico flu epidemic fear grows
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New Delhi:
Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Sunday apologised to the
family of 14-year-old swine flu victim Reeda Shaikh for his remarks
stating that she was responsible for infecting nearly 85 people of
her school.
“I
never intended to hurt Shaikh family in any way. I never meant to
say the Reeda spread H1N1 infection in Pune,” said Azad.
Earlier an ugly row had erupted after Azad said that swine flu was
contagious and those who had fallen victim to it could have passed
on the virus to others even as the authorities battled swine flu.
His
remarks that 14-year-old Pune schoolgirl Reeda Shaikh, who died Aug
3 becoming India's first swine flu victim, could have spread the
virus to 80 other people by visiting more than one hospital
triggered an angry response from her grieving family.
"One
small girl went from one hospital to another, then a third hospital
to get treatment and then a fourth, without awareness. In the
process some 80 people were infected. This girl ... transmitted the
virus in the course of seeking treatment," the minister said in New
Delhi.
In
Pune, the girl's mother and aunt lashed out at Azad, demanding his
resignation for his "insensitive remarks".
"We
want an apology from the government. (Azad) has hurt a mother... He
has blamed our child for having infected around 80 others. He needs
to get his facts right," the angry mother of Reeda told reporters.
The
girl's more vocal aunt, Ayesha Shaikh, added: "Our child sacrificed
her life for the nation. Because of her death so many people went
for swine flu test and have tested positive. We want an apology or
resignation from Azad."
Later, Azad apologised to the grieving family.
Deaths continue to
pour
The
contagious swine flu claimed two more lives in India Sunday, taking
the national toll in just a week to four and forcing Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh's office to start monitoring the spread of the virus.
On
Sunday, three people continued to be in a critical condition and 82
fresh cases were reported, taking the total number of people
infected by the virus to 864, the health ministry said.
Authorities in Maharashtra and Gujarat - which account for the four
deaths - were on high alert.
The
latest victims of influenza A(H1NI) were Sanjay Kokare, a village
school teacher who died in a Pune hospital, and Pravin Patel of
Atlanta in the US who had flown in to Ahmedabad a week ago. Patel's
wife is in critical condition.
Kokare died in Pune's Sassoon Hospital after midnight Saturday. In
the hospital, six more people are still undergoing treatment. As
Pune has become the epidemic city, a central team has been stationed
to assess the situation and institute appropriate public health
measures.
Ashok Ladda, additional director of the state family welfare
department, said that Kokare was admitted initially to a hospital in
Khedegaon village near Pune July 31.
He
was sent home after two days. But his condition deteriorated again
and he was taken to a private hospital in Pune. He was moved to
Sassoon Hospital two days back and was on ventilator when he died,
Ladda said.
Pravin Patel died at the civil hospital in Gujarat's main city
Ahmedabad early Sunday. He and his wife had tested positive for
swine flu Saturday.
"This is the first swine flu death in Ahmedabad. The patient had
other complications as well. He had viral pneumonia, which is very
difficult to treat. His haemoglobin was low. All these added to the
complications of swine flu," said Gujarat Health Minister Jaynarayan
Vyas.
The
latest deaths prompted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to tell Health
Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad that a panel of doctors be formed to
provide the people "correct information" regarding swine flu.
According to an official in the Prime Minister's Office, Manmohan
Singh said the panel should also provide proper information to the
media.
The
health minister said: "It (the spread) has gone up across the world
and it will also increase in India. For this we need to increase the
number of beds in both government and private hospitals."
"So
far Swine flu has only been restricted to well-off families," he
told a news channel.
Fahmida Panwala, 53, who succumbed to the virus late Saturday in
Mumbai's Kasturba Hospital, was the second victim of the virus.
Within 24 hours, two more people died.
The
authorities are closely monitoring the condition of three people - a
medico and a pharmacist, who are in critical condition in Pune, and
a 28-year-old businessman who is in critical condition in a Mumbai
hospital.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan convened a meeting of
officials and experts as a team from the National Centre for Disease
Control, formerly the National Institute of Communicable Disease,
left for Pune.
Pune
is in the grip of panic as thousands besieged government hospitals
to get themselves checked, almost all of them with their faces
masked.
In
New Delhi, the privately run Sanskriti School closed down for a week
after three students tested positive for swine flu, including one
who recently visited Britain.
According to a statement issued by the health ministry, about 4,084
people have been tested so far, of whom 864 are positive for the
Influenza A(H1N1). It said that 523 of them have been discharged.
On Sunday, 82 laboratory-confirmed cases were
reported with Pune (34) topping the list. It is followed by Delhi
(13), Mumbai (12), Chennai (7), Goa (4), Vadodara (3), Kozhikode
(2), Hyderabad (2), Gurgaon (2), Thiruvananthapuram (1) and Thrissur
in Kerala (1), and Sirsa in Haryana (1).
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