H1N1: Mumbai reports 53 per cent of all cases from Maharashtra

As per the latest monsoon report out of the total H1N1 cases reported in Maharashtra this year till June 53 per cent of the cases were reported from MumbaiThe Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC report reveals that Mumbai recorded 377 cases of H1N1 this year from January to June The state governmentrsquos disease report has stated that Maharashtra reported 712 H1N1 cases till June 2023The BMCrsquos monsoon report released on July 3 also states that 90 cases were reported in June Doctors in the city have been seeing a couple of H1N1 patients for a few weeksA week ago a 42yearold man and a 70yearold diabetic woman were treated for H1N1 in Bhatia HospitalSpeaking about the cases Dr Samrat Shah consultant internist at Bhatia Hospital said ldquoBoth the patients had complaints of highgrade fever for two days severe body pain running nose pain in the throat to begin with This was followed by a cough with expectoration and breathlessness After 48 hours they started wheezing and both patients developed mild crackles in the chest developing swine flu pneumonia Upon examination both were detected with small pneumonic patches on the lungs Both patients were caught with the H1N1 virus on the upper respiratory tract after performing Biofire test Its a test where PCR is run through and all the viruses and bacteria can be screened through this testrdquoldquoThe patients were administered Tamiflu or antiflu dose twice a day and both of them did very well If within 48 hours the patient is administered with Tamiflu or Anti flu they can recover well without hospitalisationrdquo added Dr ShahSo far three deaths due to H1N1 have been reported in the state but no deaths reported in MumbaiMore cases than previous yearWhile last year Mumbai recorded 346 cases from January to December this year within six months the city crossed last yearrsquos record by reporting 377 cases from January to June The city has reported around 8 per cent rise in H1N1 cases from the previous year so farDr Kirti Sabnis infectious disease specialist Fortis Hospital said ldquoPreventive measures for H1N1 include vaccination Vaccination needs to be taken by people who have low immunity and the vaccine has to be taken every year before the monsoon season commences This is because it takes 15 days for the vaccine to start acting and also because more cases of H1N1 are reported mainly in the monsoon cases are not seen much in the drier seasonsrdquoHe added ldquoAs H1N1 is a respiratory infection the signs and symptoms are coughing and generalised body pain sometimes patients can have diarrhoea and abdominal pain However mainly the symptoms are related to the respiratory tractrdquoIn 2022 Mumbai recorded five H1N1 deathsOther monsoon diseases in MumbaiMumbai has recorded 1744 gastroenteritis cases in the month of June In comparison to other monsoonrelated illnesses gastroenteritis cases witnessed a spikeBesides this 353 dengue cases 141 hepatitis cases and 97 leptospirosis cases were reported in June last month