Swine flu spreading its tentacles, many dead across India

New Delhi, Feb 10: Two fresh cases of swine flu were reported in Noida, Uttar Pradesh; one person died in Rajkot, Gujarat, while the number of cases rose to 37 in Faridabad, Haryana, on Saturday. The state of Uttarakhand is on high alert. The state has not reported a single case of swine flu so far.

Uttar Pradesh: Two fresh cases in Noida

Two fresh cases of swine flu were on Saturday reported from a private hospital in Noida. A woman and a man were found H1N1 positive at Kailash Hospital, ICU in charge Dr Anil Gurnani said. The condition of the man was stated to be critical. Earlier, one case of swine flu was reported by Max Hospital and another by Sector 62 hospital.

Gujarat: One dies of suspected swine flu, five more test positive

In Rajkot, a 37-year-old person admitted to Civil Hospital with swine flu symptoms died on Saturday even as five more persons tested positive for the H1N1 virus, hospital sources said. Yusuf Ahemad, a native of Junagadh, was admitted to Rajkot Civil hospital on Friday night with swine flu symptoms, sources said.

His blood sample was sent for lab testing and the report was yet to be received but the patient died in the morning, they said. Meanwhile, five persons, including two women, tested positive for H1N1 virus on Saturday, taking the total number of patients to have tested positive to 18 this month, sources added.

Haryana: Number of suspected cases rises to 37 in Faridabad

In Faridabad, two new suspected swine flu cases were registered on Saturday in ESI hospital taking the number of persons affected with the virus to 37 across the district. Among such cases, 11 of them has been declared positive by the Health Department. One youth has died of swine flu in the district so far.

"Taking the situation into consideration, all Employees State Insurance (ESI) hospitals and dispensaries have been put on alert," said Mukesh Kanswal, civil surgeon, ESI health care centre. As a special precautionary measure, the hospital authorities has created a special four-bed isolation ward for swine flu cases, Kanswal said.

Uttarakhand: No case so far

Meanwhile, Uttarakhand has been put on high alert in view of the swine flu outbreak. Chief Medical Officers and Chief Medical Superintendents across the state were on Saturday put on high alert to check the spread of H1N1 influenza. Director General medical health and family welfare asked all CMOs to make available all facilities to affected persons if any.

However, not a single case of swine flu has been detected in the state so far, state nodal officer Kiran Bisht said. As a precautionary measure, chief medical superintendents of all hospitals have been asked to set up an isolation ward for admitting people showing symptoms of swine flu, she said.

"Though the situation in Uttarakhand is normal and there is no need to panic, we need to take precautionary measures in view of the swine flu threat in neighbouring states," she said.

As many as 64 people have died due to H1N1 influenza in Rajasthan, while 18 deaths have been reported from Haryana, 10 from Punjab and three in Delhi till Wednesday. As per Health Ministry data, 494 cases of swine flu have been reported from these states in the first 37 days of the year.

PTI