For a family of 11 living near Mohammed Ali Road, it was a gloomy Eid as all members have been suffering from swine flu from quite sometime, which has rapidly spread to various parts of the city. So far, Mumbai has reported 343 swine flu cases this year of which 92 were in the past one week itself. The death toll reported so far stands at 16.
"The oldest member of the family is in his 80s and has undergone a bypass surgery, there's another elderly man who is suffering from lung disease, there's a patient with renal transplant, two pregnant women, three adult males and three children among the infected," said Dr Om Srivastava, infectious disease expert.
One of the women in the family was the first to be infected. She was treated at Hinduja Hospital and the infection seems to have passed on to the rest of the family, according to the doctor. "Except the mother, all other family members have some psychiatry illness like obsessive-compulsive disorder, multiple personality disorder, anxiety and panic attack," Dr Srivastava said.
Pregnant women, the elderly and the immuno-compromised individuals like cancer and TB patients are the most at risk. It generally affects the lungs first but the symptoms seem to be changing. "Lungs are usually affected first but in recent cases we have seen the exact opposite. The time between the lungs being affected and the patient succumbing to the viral infection there is a time gap of lesser than 12 hours," Dr Srivastava added.
Children, too, are increasingly being affected. "I have seen three children with swine flu so far. While one got the infection from an aunt, the other two may have got it at their school," said Dr Pankaj Parekh, paediatrician, Bhatia Hospital who cautioned against ignoring breathing difficulties.
Symptoms & high-risk groups
High-risk groups: Pregnant women,elderly, children,diabetics, cancer patients, persons on steroids and HIV/AIDS patients
Symptoms: Cough, cold, running nose, fever, high temperature, headache,body ache
