A sneeze raises eyebrows and coughing makes people nervous in the city, which has emerged as the epicentre of swine flu with 100 casualties.
A lurking fear pervading the city for the last three months after the death of 14-year-old school girl Reeda Shaikh on August 3 - India's first H1N1 fatality - has hit social life in Pune, with its population of 35 lakh. When 28-year-old Mohini Undre was declared the 100th victim of H1N1 in Pune on Thursday, turning the toll three digit, fresh concerns came haunting the health officials and common people alike over the possibility of a more virulent "second wave" with the onset of winter. Dr Arun Jamkar, Dean of Government-run Sassoon Hospital, which has seen maximum swine flu deaths, says "a second wave is totally unpredictable. We have to be completely prepared to meet any eventuality that the virus can bring to us." The hospital, the main referral centre in Western Maharashtra, has submitted a plan to the State Government envisaging better infrastructure for management of rising swine flu cases in Pune putting up a demand for over 100 ventilators to treat emergencies to save lives.
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