Dhakal, who was admitted to Grande International Hospital on March 27, passed away at 1:40 pm, confirmed Dr Chakra Raj Pandey, director at the hospital.
According to director Pandey, Dhakal was also suffering from lymphoproliferative disorder and lymph node tuberculosis (TB). Doctors say the lymphoproliferative disorder is a condition in which lymphocytes are produced in excessive quantities and infect people with weak immune system.Family sources said Dhakal had driven himself to hospital after he experienced breathing difficulty. "He was suffering from serious renal problem and respiratory infection," said a press statement issued by the hospital on Sunday.
The hospital admitted him to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and later put him on a ventilator he experienced low oxygen saturation level. "He was regularly kept on dialysis after his kidneys stopped functioning properly," read the statement. "But his health deteriorated instead of improving."
The hospital said Dhakal's condition did not improve even after being supplied oxygen. Doctors at the hospital conducted cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for 30 minutes, but to no avail. CPR is an emergency life support procedure.
The hospital claimed its efforts to save Dhakal could not succeed despite help from specialist doctors of Nepal and Medanta Hospital, India. Doctors at the hospital had referred him to Delhi but could not be flown to India due to bad weather conditions.
Four die, over 700 infected so far
Though authorities have been claiming that swine flu is common and that there is no need for the public to panic, four people have already died, while over 700 have been infected with the virus this year.
The Epidemiology and disease Control division (EDCD) of the Department of the Health Services (DOHS) confirmed that four people, including CPN-UML's leader Dhaka, died of the virus in the last three months.
The EDCD informed that over 700 people have been infected with the virus. Most of those infected are from Kathmandu while others are from Chitwan, Pokhara, Dhangadhi and Nepalgunj.
"Four people have died and over 700 have been infected with the virus this year," said Dr Baburam Marasini, director at EDCD. He claimed the virus has less than one percent fatality rate and the infection is in a decreasing trend. All the infections were confirmed by the National Public Health Laboratory (NPHL).
"More people might have been infected with virus in the other parts of the country," Dr Geeta Shakya, director at the NPHL, said. She informed that of the 2,554 samples tested in the laboratory until Thursday, 523 tested positive for the swine flu virus. Another 133 were infected with influenza B and 33 with H3 virus.
According to Dr Shakya, doctors generally do not send samples of suspected swine flu cases for laboratory examination as it is a seasonal and common flu. They take it as a general influenza case and prescribe medicines.
Doctors say infants, elderly and ailing people with diminished immunity are more vulnerable the virus. She said common symptoms of influenza A include fever, sore throat, muscle pain, severe headache, weakness, fatigue and cough.
Related story
Woman dies from swine flu in Kavre
