Swine flu in Odisha: One more dies, toll rises to 17

Bhubaneswar, Aug 21: The deadly swine flu continues to claim life in Odisha as a woman succumbed to H1N1 virus at SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack. With this, the SCB medical college hospital recorded four swine flu deaths, said Manoranjan Patnaik, nodal officer of swine flu ward.

While H1N1 affected persons had succumbed yesterday one each at SCB in Cuttack and another at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar, Health and Family Welfare minister P K Jena said 227 people have been tested positive for the vector borne disease in state till yesterday.

As many as 30 swab samples were examined yesterday out of which 11 tested positive, he said adding that five of the 11 positive cases were from SCB Medical College Hospital, two in Apollo Hospital, one each in Sum Hospital, Kar Clinic and Vivekananda Hospital.

Appealing to people not to panic over swine flu, the minister said the state government has launched an awareness drive to make people aware about the disease. He suggested all to consult doctors if they suspect to have been infected with the H1N1 virus.

PTI