Man dies of suspected H1N1 in Coimbatore

COIMBATORE: A 41-year-old man from Somandurai Sithur in Pollachi died in a hospital here on Tuesday night due to a suspected case of H1N1.
In a glaring case pointing to the lack of awareness about the virus, the man who had been suffering from severe cold, cough and fever for more than a week did not seek medical attention till he found himself unable to breathe. He died before doctors in Pollachi or Coimbatore could test him for the virus.

Mahendran Ramasamy, who earns a living by collecting and selling scrap glass bottles, began suffering from a sore throat almost 10 days ago. “It escalated into a cold and cough over the next two to three days. Despite it getting worse, he kept ignoring it as a normal cold and cough,” said his brother-in-law, Mahendran.

“Around noon on Tuesday, his wife called me stating that he could hardly breathe,” he said.

Family members rushed him to Anamalai Government Hospital, where doctors said they could not treat him. Ramasamy was rushed to Pollachi Government Hospital, where he was given oxygen.

“But they said they can’t treat him or admit him and wrote us a referral to Coimbatore Medical College Hospital. By the time we reached the hospital late in the night, his breathing was very less. Before doctors could even start treatment, he passed away,” says Manikandan.

All the major private tertiary care hospitals in the city are seeing at least one H1N1 virus case every week. The number is likely to increase once rainy season starts.