Two new deaths take India's swine flu toll to 25

New Delhi/Bangalore Aug 16 (IANS) Two women have died in Bangalore due swine flu, taking India's swine flu toll to 25, while 152 new cases of the virus were detected Sunday, officials said.

The total number of the H1N1 infected people in the country has also gone up to 1,708, according to a health ministry statement in New Delhi.

Two 26-year-old women in Bangalore - Shilpa and Shamshad Begum - died in St. John's Hospital and the Baptist Hospital respectively late Saturday, doctors said.

Shilpa was admitted Aug 10 after suffering from fever for five days. She was confirmed to be H1N1 positive Friday and succumbed to the infection Saturday.

Shamshad Begum also died Saturday evening, five days after she was admitted with pneumonia symptoms to the Baptist Hospital.

At least '25 people have died till today (Sunday)' due to the virus, the health ministry said. Thirteen people, the highest in the country, have fallen prey to the virus in Pune followed by five in Bangalore and two in Mumbai. One death each has been reported from Nasik, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Thiruvananthapuram.

Of the new 152 cases Sunday, Maharashtra, the worst hit state in the country, reported 97. Sixty are from Mumbai, the health ministry statement said.

While 57 Mumbai cases have no recent travel history, the three other cases - a 50-year-old man, a 21-year-old woman and another man of the same age - had travelled from Jeddah, Taiwan and Hongkong respectively, the statement said.

In Pune, 18 people tested positive Sunday.

The other positive cases are Tamil Nadu (21), Karnataka (18), Delhi (11), Kerala (3), and Assam and Shimla one each.

In India, 8,658 people have been tested for the virus so far. Of the 1,708 positive cases, 694 have been discharged from various health centres, the health ministry statement said.

--Indo-Asian New Service

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