Malaria patient Vineet Gandhi, who died at Kasturba Hospital yesterday, was transferred there on suspicion of H1N1; test results today will reveal the truth
Malaria patient Vineet Gandhi, who died at Kasturba Hospital yesterday, was transferred there on suspicion of H1N1; test results today will reveal the truth
Was it swine flu that claimed a second victim at Kasturba Hospital yesterday? The death of businessman Vineet Gandhi (32) is mired in questions that will only be answered when his test reports arrive today.
Gandhi was transferred to Kasturba from Jaslok Hospital on suspicion of swine flu.
But state health officials yesterday questioned the need for the transfer, given that he had already been diagnosed with falciparum malaria. Gandhi died of convulsions soon after he was transferred to the Chinchpokli hospital yesterday morning.
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However, in a panic situation, hospitals want to avoid the boomerang effect and any accusations of negligence," said Dr Pradeep Awte, head of the state influenza cell with the Maharashtra Directorate of Health Services.
Dr Sanjay Oak, director of Medical Education and Major Hospitals, said, "The patient died of malaria. Only Jaslok officials can comment on why he was transferred to Kasturba."
Jaslok officials, however, insisted that the step was taken only after consultation with Kasturba officials.
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"The patient developed breathing difficulties on Sunday morning and we took this step only after consulting BMC doctors. We did not want to risk infection to other patients.
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The patient's room on the 12th floor has now been cordoned off and we have fumigated the area.
As a further precaution, we are also trying to shift patients from that floor to other rooms," said Jaslok Hospital Medical Superintendent Admiral (retd) S K Mohanty.
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The patient, a resident of August Kranti Marg, had returned from a trip to South Africa nine days ago and then gone to Goa.
On his return to Mumbai he started experiencing fever and chills and got himself admitted to Jaslok on August 6. His condition, however, deteriorated yesterday and he was put on ventilator and moved to Kasturba at 10.30 am. He passed away soon after.
Could Famida have been saved?
At the MCGM press meet, Dr Sanjay Oak said deceased Famida Panwala had to be shifted to Kasturba, as Lilavati Hospital had no isolation ward.
However, the deceased's family insists that even though the hospital had appealed to BMC officials to allow testing to begin, their request was turned down. Famida was transferred to Kasturba hospital on Friday night.
She died on Saturday morning. Lilavati Hospital officials refused to comment.
However at L H Hiranandani Hospital, H1N1 treatment on strong clinical suspicion was started for a second patient and the critical care unit has now been cleared for all, but this patient and the 28-year-old male who tested positive on Friday.
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"We've taken all precautions to ensure that the virus doesn't spread. As for our staff, the results of five are negative and three are awaited," said Dr Sujit Chatterjee, CEO, L H Hiranandani Hospital.u00a0
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