New Delhi, September 12: Eleven swine flu deaths, including six in Maharashtra and four in Karnataka, were reported Saturday, pushing up India’s toll from the Influenza A(H1N1) virus to 172, health authorities said here.
One death was reported from Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad area, near the national capital. This is the first swine flu death in the state.
According to N.K. Chaturvedi, the medical superintendent of the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital here, the Ghaziabad resident had come to the hospital 12 days late.
Ajay Aggarwal, 34, was admitted Sep 5. “But his condition was really bad ever since he came to the hospital. Since he came late, the treatment was delayed. Even a delay of five days can be fatal,” Chaturvedi told IANS.
Meanwhile, 183 fresh cases were reported in the country, taking the total number of people affected with the virus to 5,979.
In Karnataka, the death toll due to the H1N1 virus has reached 57, a health official said. While three deaths were reported from Bangalore, the fourth was in Kolar. All four victims were women.
Though they died earlier, the report confirming that they tested positive for the virus was received Sep 11, the health official said.
Briefing on swine flu treatment in Karnataka, which has seen a large number of deaths, state’s Health Minister B. Sreeramulu has said the government would bear expenses of the swab test that amounts to Rs.2,000.
“A government order had been issued to all private hospitals asking them not to charge patients for the swab test. They should collect the charges from the government,” Sreeramulu assured.
“However, the government would not bear treatment expenses of H1N1 patients,” he added.
Of the total 183 fresh cases, 56 were from Delhi. This took the number of people affected with the flu in the national capital to 1,169.
Maharashtra, which has so far registered the highest number of deaths and cases in the country, reported 42 new cases. With this, the total number of people affected with the influenza in the state rose to 1,985. At least 78 people in Maharashtra have lost their lives due to the flu since the first death was reported Aug 3.
The other fresh cases were from Karnataka (28), Tamil Nadu (24), Andhra Pradesh (11), Kerala (7), Haryana (5), Uttarakhand (4), and Chhattisgarh (1).
–IANS