H1N1 is hitting one Indian city hard & fast, partly due to a shortage of vaccines.  In one week four people have died!  Five are in critical condition.

Pune officials had to destroy their stock of nasal spray vaccines because they had expired.  But there’s no shortage of other forms of more expensive H1N1 vaccines, just a shortage of cash to pay for them!

As of March 18, 2012, 58 people are confirmed infected with H1N1, with 15,000 people being tested for H1N1.  However, to cut costs officials have decided to restrict who gets tested for H1N1: “Only patients down with influenza like symptoms but having associated illnesses like diabetes, hypertension and other chronic illnesses as well as those falling in category A, irrespective of whether they have other co-morbid conditions or not, will be tested for swine flu infection.”-Pravin Shingare, Medical Education and Research (DMER)

On March 17, 2012, Mumbai state health officials called an emergency meeting.  They are trying to figure out the cause of such a sudden, and deadly outburst of H1N1.

So far they’re blaming lack of immunity caused by a new mutant strain of H1N1, and other medical conditions of the patient: “The last outbreak was reported over a year and half ago. The herd immunity people developed after that is on the decline hence people with compromised immunity due to pre-existing morbidities like diabetes, hypertension, cardiac illness, cancer etc are more susceptible.”-Pradeep Awate, state health surveillance officer

They also blame unusually cold weather for India: “The sudden cold wave in February following by the current transition period and difference in diurnal temperatures are favorable conditions for influenza infections like swine flu.”-Pradeep Awate, state health surveillance officer