Vishakapatnam, October 23: Two persons, one of them a woman, have succumbed to swine flu while undergoing treatment at the District Chest and Communicable Diseases (DCCD) hospital here. While a 39-year-old woman from the old CBI Office area had died last night, a 29-year-old male youth died this evening.
According to hospital superintendent P Subba Rao, Mosaiah (29) of Devarapalli mandal in the district had been diagnosed with H1N1 influenza five days ago and was admitted to the DCCD Hospital immediately. His condition turned critical in the last couple of days and was kept on ventilators due to respiratory problem.
But he collapsed this evening.
The other patient, Dasari Mangaratnam (39), was admitted to the hospital on October 18 with swine flu symptoms. She developed breathing complications last night and died in the wee hours.
The condition of another patient is said to be critical while eight more persons with swine flu symptoms are undergoing treatment at the hospital.
Doctors diagnosed 23 persons with the H1N1 virus ever since it broke out in June. Five persons have died till date, all in October despite the hot climate. Doctors say the virus might spread its tentacles once winter sets in and the climate turns cool in the city. Cold weather helps the virus to spread faster, it is learnt. Officials are taking precautionary measures to control the disease.
–Agencies