Five more swine flu deaths in Pune; countrywide toll 23

Pune, August 14: Five more persons, including an AIDS patient, died of swine flu in the city, taking the countrywide death toll in the pandemic to 23. The city has witnessed 15 deaths.

The swine flu pandemic70-year-old Parubhai Shinde, who was admitted to a hospital here four days back following high fever and other symptoms of swine flu died late last night, health officials said.

44-year-old HIV positive Prabhakar Wariager died last night of swine flu within hours of his admission to the Sassoon Hospital.

Another senior citizen, Bharati Goyal, who was suffering from fever and breathlessness for the last four days, died of suspected swine flu, yesterday.

Health officials said 37-year-old Archana Kolhe, who was shifted to government-run Sassoon Hospital on August 10 with fever and acute respiratory problems from a private hospital, succumbed to the flu yesterday afternoon.

An eight-month-old boy, Swabhiman Kamble, died late on Thursday night in Sahyadri Hospital, a designated private hospital to treat flu patients, Zagade said.

As the swine flu cases continue to mount, the Union health ministry has decided to conduct from an orientation programme for experts from private laboratories engaged by the government for carrying out diagnostic test for swine flu patients.

–PTI