Chennai/Pune, Aug 10 - A 35-year-old ayurvedic doctor in Pune and a four-year-old boy in Chennai died of the Influenza A (H1N1) virus early Monday, taking the toll of the viral disease to six in the country.
Baburao Mane, an ayurvedic doctor who worked in Pune's slum areas, had been admitted to Pune's Sassoon Hospital five days ago and had been on the ventilator for three days.
Four-year-old Sanjay Balakrishnan had been admitted to a private Chennai hospital last week with fever and diarrhoea and tested positive for the flu on Saturday.
Giving details of Mane's death, Sassoon Hospital dean Arun Jhamkar told reporters: 'When Mane was brought here he had developed pneumonia in both lungs. In addition, he also had acute respiratory distress syndrome. Owing to this, oxygen did not reach his blood and his blood pressure plummeted. His condition worsened and he did not respond to medicines. He died at 7.20 a.m. today.'
At present six more swine flu patients are in critical condition at the hospital's Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Four are on ventilators, Jamkar said.