Swine flu deaths in India reach 1210
POSTED January 29, 2010 - 11:31 | POSTED BY Pankhuri Kapoor
Last edited by Kangna Agarwal on January 29, 2010 - 11:48
Reportedly, the deaths that occurred earlier this week were confirmed by the Union Ministry of Health & Family on Thursday.
The casualties included two from Haryana and one each from the states of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
State-wise death count
So far, Maharashtra has witnessed 312 fatalities since the HINI pandemic hit the country last year while the death toll of 223 was reported from Gujarat, 176 from Rajasthan, 141 from Karnataka and 93 from Delhi.
Also 52 people succumbed to the swine flu in Andhra Pradesh, 38 in Punjab, 36 each in Kerala and Haryana, 21 in Madhya Pradesh, 18 in Uttar Pradesh, 13 in Uttarakhand, eight each in Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh.
Seven were found dead in Tamil Nadu, six each in Chhattisgarh and Puducherry, five in Goa, four in Jammu and Kashmir, three in Orissa, two in Assam and one each in Mizoram and Dadra & Nagar Haveli respectively.
Swine flu pandemic waning in India
While the total deaths caused by the swine flu pandemic have reached 1210, the health ministry has confirmed that more than 28,711 people have been tested positive of the lethal H1N1 virus in the country so far.
However, the pandemic swine flu seems to wane as only 36 new swine flu infections were reported from various regions of the country on Thursday.
Of the total new cases, the maximum were from Maharashtra (20), while Gujarat confirmed seven cases, Delhi saw two and one each was confirmed from Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
According to data provided by the Health Ministry in India, samples of 1,22,492 people have been tested in laboratories across the country and 23.44 per cent of these have tested positive of the swine flu virus.
Seasonal flu versus Swine flu
Dr Keiji Fukuda who is the World Health Organization’s flu expert says, “The H1N1 pandemic is not the same as seasonal influenza and differs in major respects. Large outbreaks occurred outside the usual season for influenza.”
“The virus caused a striking and unusual pattern of severe illness and deaths in younger people, with many deaths caused by viral pneumonia, an especially aggressive form of pneumonia. This pattern is not typically seen during seasonal influenza,” he adds.
The World Health Organization also claimed that the swine flu pandemic is not over yet and it generally takes one or two years even after the pandemic gets over to estimate the exact damage caused.
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