Danishta Idrees Khan, a New Bhim Nagar resident in Govandi, contracted leptospirosis when she was already H1N1 positive. (Representational Image)A 26-YEAR-OLD woman from Govandi is suspected to be the first victim of leptospirosis in Mumbai in a rare case of double infection, where she also contracted H1N1 infection.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is going to hold a committee meeting to review this case.
Danishta Idrees Khan, a New Bhim Nagar resident in Govandi, contracted leptospirosis when she was already H1N1 positive. On Saturday night at 9.30 pm, she succumbed at KEM Hospital’s medical intensive care unit.
This is the first leptospirosis death reported in Mumbai this year. In March and April, three H1N1 deaths were recorded.
According to doctors, Khan’s case was complicated as she was already suffering from diabetes and acute respiratory distress syndrome. She was admitted on July 8 to KEM Hospital where an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test to confirm leptospirosis came out to be positive. She was suffering from breathlessness and fever.
While H1N1 is a viral respiratory infection that can spread, leptospirosis is a bacterial infection that spreads through urine of infected animals to humans.
Across Mumbai till June 25, leptospirosis cases have been recorded with five in June alone. The health department has recorded 273 cases of H1N1 so far. With a dry spell in the last few days, doctors said the weather had become conducive for leptospira bacteria to grow.
According to Dr Padmaja Keskar, executive health officer of the BMC, Khan’s death will be reviewed by a committee to confirm whether double infection from H1N1 and leptospirosis led to her death.
Dr Harish Nouni, M East ward medical officer in which Govandi falls, said they were yet to inquire from the neighbourhood about the death.
“We were not informed about her death,” he said. Health workers will be conducting door-to-door survey to screen patients for H1N1 and leptospirosis symptoms in the transit camp where Khan resided.
