10 confirmed swine flu patients in India: Health Ministry

New Delhi, June 12 (ANI): The Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry has clarified that India has altogether ten confirmed cases of HINI influenza cases and the patients are being property treated.

Joint Director of the Health Ministry Vineet Choudhary said there is no need for the public to panic as the overall situation is under control.

"We have currently fifteen confirmed cases of HINI influenza A. One more case has been awaiting confirmation from the NIV at Pune. Even if we assume that 16 have tested positive, we must also bear in mind that out of these sixteen, five have been treated and discharged. They are no longer with us. They are negative. They are not in any health facility. So currently we have ten plus one who are on treatment," Choudhary said.

He also mentioned that all the states have been provided with emergency stocks to meet any eventual exigency and provide immediate relief to patients.

"We have given an emergency stock pile to each state. So in case a patient is detected, he can be straightaway be put on treatment by the state government without waiting for supplies from Delhi or else where," Choudhary said.

Meanwhile, one more patient at Hyderabad tested positive, taking the total number of infected cases in Hyderabad to eight.

"We got one more case that is the eighth case in Andhra Pradesh. This is a six year old girl who has come to Hyderabad on 9th early hours by Air India flight AI-140. She developed symptoms on the same day night. So she was isolated on 10th of this month," said Dr. Sudhakar, Medical Specialist, Government Chest Hospital, Hyderabad.

She is presently on Oseltamivir and said to be stable, and all her family and social contacts have been identified and put on chemoprophylaxis. Details of the passengers who sat in close proximity to these cases in the concerned airlines are being obtained.

The new strain, commonly known as swine flu, has infected 21,940 people in 69 countries, killing 125 of them, according to the WHO. (ANI)