Girl succumbs to H1N1 in Srinagar

Swine flu claimed its first victim in Jammu and Kashmir, after a 21-year old girl succumbed to the deadly H1N1 infection in Srinagar on Saturday.

The girl, Muskan, had been admitted to the institute of medical sciences at Soura with acute respiratory distress on December 1.

The patient was put in the medical intensive care unit of the institute by the doctors who immediately sent her sample to the National Institute of Communicable diseases in New Delhi after her admission in the hospital.

Muskan, however, succumbed to the H1N1 deadly infection in the hospital on Saturday evening.

Even though the institute administration denied she died of the H1N1 viral flu, a senior doctor confirmed to rediff.com that she was tested positive for the infection.

"We have got the report which confirms she was an H1N1 viral flu patient," the doctor said.

Although the state government had designated a special centre with isolation wards for admission and treatment of H1N1 patients in Srinagar, eyebrows have been raised as to why the unfortunate girl was admitted in the medical ICU and not in the relevant centre.

"Since the doctors had been suspecting her to be a case of the infection which is proved by the fact that they had sent her tests to Delhi for confirmation, I am pained why she was not immediately shifted to designated centre," said a local doctor in Srinagar.

He expressed apprehension that Muskan's admission to the medical ICU might have infected other patients in the unit and their attendants.