Pregnant women at risk,Maharashtra working on new H1N1 protocol

Following the recent death of four pregnant women in the state due to H1N1,the state government has begun drafting a new treatment protocol for these high-risk patients....

Following the recent death of four pregnant women in the state due to H1N1,the state government has begun drafting a new treatment protocol for these high-risk patients. Health officials will be collecting swab samples of pregnant patients reporting to the screening centres and those will be express tested.

Within 24 hours,the test report will be available and only after the report,Tamiflu will be administered. There are concerns that Tamiflu could lead to congenital defects in the foetus if administered during the first trimester and risk the life of the baby.

The decision comes a day after the state health department issued public advertisements,specially directed to pregnant women.

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On Tuesday,a 20-year-old pregnant woman died in the Vashi,taking the overall death toll in the state to 68.

Tamiflu doesn’t seem to be working on pregnant women especially in their first and third trimester. Such patients need to be cautioned about the use of Tamiflu and also be informed about possible effects on the foetus, said Sharvaree Gokhale,Additional Chief Secretary,Health. We know that there are some effects in the first and third trimester,the effects in second trimester are not known. Patients need to make an informed choice at that level. It is sometimes a question of being able to save the mother or the child and this risk has to be communicated to the family.

In Mumbais Kasturba hospital,11 pregnant women were admitted to the isolation ward of which two died. The rest recovered. Manisha Mhaiskar,Additional Municipal Commissioner,BMC,said: Women have been coming to us in all three trimesters. The decision is to begin testing on priority samples collected from pregnant women. We have already started acting according to the new protocol in all the screening centres.

After reporting a decline in the flow of patients and admission in the hospitals,the state is witnessing an increase in admissions again. The state officials are analysing the pattern of admissions and deaths during the Ganesh festivities. There is possibly a spike in figures, said Gokhale.

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Six more swine flu deaths were confirmed on Wednesday three in Karnataka,two in Maharashtra and one in Gujarat. The Karnataka victims included a five-year-old boy,who died at a private hospital in Bagalkot on September 1.

The police said the trio from Chandigarh — Rohan (21), Sumit (22), and Mohit (19) — were dhol players by profession and had procured the weapons due to an old rivalry with local residents.

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