ABSTRACT
Background: Swine flu is an infective disease caused by any one of the several types of Influenza viruses. The world saw its first pandemic of swine flu this century in the year 2009 when the WHO raised a world-wide pandemic alert to level 6 on June 11, 2009. In India, first few cases (index cases) of swine flu were reported from Pune, Maharashtra. The most recent outbreak of this dreaded infection was reported during late winter of 2015.Methods: The present study was retrospective study. In order to collect the data, we reviewed medical charts of patients who were hospitalized in our hospital during the study period. Diagnosis of swine flu was confirmed after sending the blood-samples to Government approved laboratories in Pune and Mumbai. Real time, Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) method was employed for serological diagnosis. Forty-five confirmed cases of swine flu were included in this retrospective study. The primary objective of this study was to highlight the differences in the clinical profile as well as outcome between the patients who survived the attack of swine flu and those who did not.Results: Forty-five of these patients tested positive for H1N1 amounting to a positivity rate of 52.94%. Cough (93.3%) was the most common symptom followed by fever (88.8%) and breathlessness (82.2%). Patients who did not survive were more likely to have associated co-morbid conditions like Hypertension, Diabetes, cardio-vascular disease, pre-existing lung disease and pregnancy though this was not statistically significant ( p=0.189). Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), Multi-Organ Dysfunction (MOD) and secondary bacterial infections were among the most common conditions that lead to death.Conclusions: Early detection of swine flu through meticulous screening in the community with a high index of suspicion followed by prompt and adequate treatment can go a long way in preventing another pandemic. Creating awareness among the lay people about personal as well as public hygiene is also vital to prevent the spread of this viral illness.