Meerut has highest swine flu mortality rate

LUCKNOW: Meerut has the highest mortality rate in the state for swine flu cases. Out of the total 120 patients who tested positive in Meerut this season, 17 have died.

In Lucknow,10 patients out of 1035 and in Kanpur, 4 out of 30 patients died of swine flu.

“This could be due to poor infrastructure,” said Dr PK Gupta, president, Indian Medical Association, Lucknow.

He said that to deal with serious patients, expertise and support systems such as ventilator were required. Absence of any one of these could raise the mortality rate in any disease, he said.

The other districts with high mortality are Hapur (5 deaths in 12 cases), Lalitpur (one death and one case), Bhadohi (one death in two cases) and Jaunpur (one death in six cases).

In Lucknow, 47 fresh swine flu cases were reported, taking the total number of cases to 1078. of these, 16 were minors. The total number of children testing positive for swine flu in Lucknow is 350 till now.

“Lucknow being the state capital, it is getting maximum patients as many families come here to live and earn. This can be a reason why the number of patients is high,” said Dr Gupta.

With the weatherman predicting rain in the coming days doctors said people should take precaution to keep infection at bay.

Lucknow being the state capital is getting maximum patients as many families come here to live and earn. This can be a reason why the number of patients is high. DR PK GUPTA, IMA president