Swine Flu: Three more deaths, toll rises to 810

Of the 19 patients, 17 are being treated at hospitals in Pune.

Meanwhile, the Delhi government has chose to double the number of hospitals beds to step up preparedness against H1N1 Influenza Virus (swine flu), which experts say will see a rise as temperature takes a dip. “Including Saturday’s three casualties, 810 people have died from the H1N1 virus in the state so far this year”, said a state health official. Out of these, the first was a 47 year old man who hailed from Satar Dt in Pune, the other death was of a 60 year old man from Bangewadi village, Latur District, and the third death recorded was of a woman who was 42 years of age, who succumbed to the infection at one of Kolhapur’s private hospitals. He died at the Government Medical College Hospital in Latur. However, health officials are blaming the extended rainy season for the prevalence of the virus. All types of influenza viruses, including H1N1, grow and spread very fast during such climate. During festivals like Navratri, people tend to mingle in large groups and hence the infections spread easily from one person to another.

Pune has always been the hotspot of swine flu infections and the government always has a tough time managing it and preventing its spread to other parts of the state.

Prince Khalifa also directed the Health Ministry to raise its level of alertness and readiness to deal with the disease after the recent detection of a few cases, and said it should cooperate with specialised organisations, including the World Health Organisation, to follow up on the disease and tighten inspection and control procedures.

A total 2,634 people exhibiting influenza-like illness were screened for swine flu at various screening centres in the state on Saturday.

Nearly 2634 people with flu like symptoms were held under the scanner for swine flu by the authorities yesterday and out of them about 240 swine flu suspected cases, were prescribed Tamiflu tablets.

With the onset of swine flu season, Union Health Ministry today asked Delhi government to come out with a mechanism to fix rates for testing H1N1 samples to help minimize expenses and stop overcharging common people.

Doctors suggested people to wear N95 mask in crowded places as the virus spreads through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

Also, two men, aged 68 and 32 years and natives of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, were admitted to the ICU of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital where they are undergoing treatment since October 2. “People don’t go for treatment despite having influenza-like symptoms”.