Vishraj Maharaj is one of the confirmed victims of the H1N1 Influenza virus-a man who moved from healthy to heart failure within six days.
Maharaj, a 30-year-old truck driver and used-car businessman, died at 7.30 p.m. on Tuesday in the Intensive Care Unit of the San Fernando General Hospital (SFGH).
He was a non-smoker who drank no alcohol and had no history of serious illness.
But in his final days, family said, Maharaj’s trembling body was wracked with pain, his lungs collapsed, he bled through the mouth and nose, and was kept alive by a ventilator until a third heart attack killed him.
The death certificate gave the cause of death as broncho-pneumonia.
Maharaj’s relatives said yesterday they were never told he was being treated for swine flu.
At least 20 family members were allowed to see him shortly before he died. They said they were allowed into the ICU two at a time, sharing two masks and aprons.
On Wednesday, the SFGH took a decision to restrict access to the facility’s ICU to only hospital staff wearing protective gear.
Maharaj’s sister, brother, niece and nephew have also fallen ill and suspect they have contracted the virus. Only the nephew is in hospital. The others intend being at Maharaj’s funeral today.
Health officials promised to visit the family to test them for the virus.
On Wednesday, Maharaj’s home at Realize Road, Barrackpore, was sprayed with a chemical by Health Ministry officials.
Maharaj was one of two people whose deaths from the virus was announced in a press conference by Health Minister Jerry Narace on Wednesday. The identity of the dead were not disclosed by Narace, citing patient confidentiality.
However, yesterday, Maharaj’s family insisted that the details of how Maharaj died must get out. It would be, they said, the ultimate public service message for citizens.
Maharaj sister, Pamela Jaganath, 36, said it was last Wednesday that he fell ill while at work at a trucking company at Preysal, Couva.
She said, ’He had body aches, pains, fever, a sore throat, the cold. Our brother had to go to his workplace to pick him up because he was shaking, unable to move properly.’
That night, she said, Maharaj was taken to a private doctor in Penal, given medication and sent home.
When his condition did not improve, Maharaj was taken back to the doctor, who administered the same treatment and diagnosed him as having a bad case of the flu.
Maharaj fought the illness at home until Monday.
Jaganath said, ’He got up about 3 a.m. and filled the water tanks. By 5 a.m., he could not even walk. He asked my mom for help. He said he could not breathe.’
At 8.30 a.m. Monday, Maharaj was taken to the Princes Town District Hospital.
One of his sisters said, ’They put him on a ventilator. But they could not revive him. He stayed there until 1 p.m. before they took him to the San Fernando General Hospital.’
She added, ’I reached there to see him hook up (on all the machines), froth coming from his mouth, gasping for breath, doctors all around.’
By 9 p.m., doctors were telling the family that Maharaj’s condition was grim.
Jaganath said, ’Even then, doctors were saying they could not understand how a healthy strong man like this could reach this stage, and begin bleeding internally.’
On Tuesday morning, Jaganath said she was given a prescription by a hospital doctor to purchase a drug called flucloxacillin at a Port of Spain pharmacy that could help Maharaj. She said, ’We felt good. Here was our chance to save his life. We never found the drug.’
At 4 p.m. Tuesday, the family learnt that Maharaj’s heart had stopped twice.
Jaganath said, ’The doctor came out, told us his third heart failure would be the end. We were asked to come in to see him in twos. We wore an apron and a mask which we all shared, and no gloves. It was not a sight.’
The family was told that health officials would come to the home yesterday to test for the swine flu. They had not come up to late yesterday.
Maharaj was unmarried and lived with his mother. He was one of 11 siblings.
