Swine flu toll inches towards 1,500; No. of cases crosses 26K

The swine flu toll in the country has swelled to 1,482 while the number of affected persons crossed the 26,000-mark today even as a minister in the Rajasthan government tested positive for the disease.

The Union Health Ministry said that, as on March 9, the total number of deaths due to the H1N1 virus stands at 1,482 with as many as 26,455 people having been affected by the disease across the various states.

Rajasthan Food and Civil Supplies Minister Hem Singh Bhadana tested positive for swine flu and is undergoing treatment. His sample was sent from Alwar on Sunday and health officials confirmed that he has been infected with the virus.

Health Ministry data showed that the toll due to the disease was highest in Gujarat where 347 people have died while the number of affected persons was 5,715.

The disease has claimed 343 lives in Rajasthan, whose total of 6,030 patients is the highest so far in the country.

The toll stands at 221 while a total of 2,703 persons have come down with the disease in Maharashtra, where Bombay High Court today directed the state government to file an affidavit within four weeks on the measures it has taken to tackle the cases of swine flu.
Madhya Pradesh has seen 201 deaths and registered 1,608 cases of the disease.

Meanwhile, Health Ministry officials said that the figure today also includes the deaths which occurred in Delhi this year of people belonging to various other states. These figures have been updated in the cumulative total in the ministry's data, officials said.

The number of those affected by swine flu in Delhi was 3,586 with the toll at 10.In Karnataka, a total of 1,801 persons have been affected by swine flu while the death toll has reached 58. Telangana has seen 1,842 cases and registered 63 fatalities.

In Kashmir, the death toll was 11 while Kerala has recorded 10 casualties. Haryana has seen 41 deaths with 49 people falling prey to the disease in the neighbouring state of Punjab.
In Uttar Pradesh, swine flu has claimed 34 lives while West Bengal has seen 14 casualties. The number of deaths in Andhra Pradesh is 16.

The data showed that in 2010, the number of persons who perished due to the disease was 1,763 while the number of those affected by it was 20,604. In 2011, there were 75 deaths with the toll in 2012 touching 405.