3 die of swineflu in Mumbai, health dept on alert

"We have put our health department on alert and asked all hospitals to keep the standard operational procedures that we devised last year in a state of readiness so if there is a need, we will be able to revive them within 24 hours," Additional Municipal Commissioner Manisha Mhaiskar told reporters here.According to the civic body, since May this year, three deaths and 17 positive cases of the total 33 cases have been reported.

"We have sent circular to hospitals instructing them to ensure that all patients with flu-like symptoms are screened for H1N1. If the patient is screened and there is a strong suspicion of swine flu, Tamiflu will be administered immediately," Mhaiskar said.

A pregnant woman Aashia Qasim Sheikh, 25, died at the Sion hospital on May 30 of swine flu after she developed Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), a complication commonly resulting from swine flu. Her baby could not be saved.

Naziya Admane(27) from Alibaug died at the same hospital, after delivering healthy twins, on May 21."The deaths came after a gap of more than six months, sparking fear that the second wave of swine flu is here. It would be premature to consider these deaths as a signal of the resurgence of the virus. It is too early to say that it is the beginning of the second wave," Mhaiskar said