Swine flu: Centre is ‘closely monitoring’ spurt in cases

NEW DELHI: The government on Sunday said it was “closely” monitoring the spurt in swine flu cases in the country even as 11 more deaths due to the disease were reported in Rajasthan, one of the worst affected states.

The Union health ministry had said that the countrywide toll from swine flu had reached 485 till February 12, which is already more than double the number of deaths reported in the whole of 2014.

“We are monitoring the situation very closely and are in touch with the health officials of the states most affected by the disease,” said a senior health ministry official.

The statement came after 11 more persons succumbed to swine flu in different parts of Rajasthan, taking the toll from the H1N1 virus in the state to 153 this year.

“While three persons each died in Jaipur and Jodhpur, there were two casualties in Ajmer followed by one each in Nagaur, Bharatpur and Kota,” a senior official said.

Rajasthan and Gujarat have witnessed the maximum number of deaths so far due to the disease while Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana, too, have been significantly affected by swine flu.

The toll from swine flu till Saturday in Gujarat was 144 even as the state reported 130 new cases.

According to a bulletin issued by the Telangana government on Saturday, in the current year (from January 1 till February 13), 3,045 samples were tested, of which 1,006 were found to be positive.

The number of deaths due to swine flu and other complications stood at 46 in the state.

In 2014, there were 937 reported cases of swine flu in the country and the disease had claimed 218 lives.