Govt. working to tackle cases: Minister

Two persons succumbed to A (H1N1) influenza in Coimbatore and Madurai on Sunday, while dengue claimed the life of an elderly citizen in Coimbatore late on Saturday.

Health Minister C. Vijaya Baskar, who inspected the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH), where patients have been undergoing treatment for fever, said the State had initiated steps on a war footing to tackle influenza and dengue.

A 53-year-old man Sreenivasan, who was undergoing treatment for A (H1N1) influenza at CMCH since October 30, died without responding to treatment on Sunday morning. He was a resident of Kovaipudur.

In Madurai, a one-year-old boy died of HINI at the Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH). Though officials initially claimed that it was not a confirmed case of swine flu, they later said that the boy had tested positive for the H1N1 infection.

M. Sakthivel, the infant from a village near Tiruchuli in Virudhunagar district, was referred to the GRH with symptoms of swine flu three days ago.

On Sunday, 67 persons were admitted to the CMCH for fever, including two for dengue and 17 for the A (H1N1) influenza.

According to D. Maruthupandian, Dean, GRH, three more infants — all below five years of age — who had tested positive for the flu, were being treated at the isolation ward in the hospital. This was in addition to the six adult H1N1-positive patients undergoing treatment at the hospital.

Though the condition of the three infants remained stable, doctors said that the rate of mortality in swine flu cases was relatively high among infants and the elderly.

In another case, a 70-year-old man undergoing treatment for dengue died at the CMCH late on Saturday. The victim, Indrakumar of Aliyar Road near Pollachi, was initially treated at the Government Hospital in Pollachi before getting admitted to the CMCH on October 31.