First swine flu in West Bengal; total cases 74

Shruti,a resident of the city,had been quarantined at the N S C B airport for showing flu-like symptoms.

Besides,One case each was reported from Madurai,Hyderabad and Chandigarh.

In Delhi,a 40-year-old man and his 39-year-old wife,who travelled from the US transiting Germany,tested positive for the virus.

With this,the number of cases in Delhi has risen to 31.Three persons tested positive from the city,which has reported the highest number of swine flu cases in the country so far.

Others who tested positive were an eight-year-old boy,who travelled from the US and reached Madurai on June 13,a 19-year-old computer science student,who came to Chandigarh from the US on June 20 and a 15-year-old girl,who traveled from Hong Kong transiting Singapore and reached Hyderabad on June 19.

Health Ministry officials said the condition of a 66-year-old woman in Delhi,who was put on ventilator a few days ago,was stable.

“Out of the 74 cases,43 people have been discharge while rest of the patients remain admitted to the identified health facilities across the country,” an official said.

According to the official,532 people have been tested so far out of which 73 tested positive for influenza A/H1N1.

“Of these,six are indigenous cases,who got the infection from positive cases who travelled from abroad. The seventh indigenous case reported yesterday,though a family contact has travel history from USA and hence treated as an imported case,” the official said.

In Maharashtra,two persons with symptoms of swine flu were admitted to a Mumbai hospital and two others in Pune.

“One of the patients,a 30-year-old man,had returned from Greece on June 21 and was admitted to the Kasturba Hospital,” a health directorate official said.

Another 27-year-old man had arrived in the city from Singapore on June 22 and came to the hospital after showing symptoms of swine flu,the official said.

Meanwhile,the Karnataka government asked the Centre to provide Tamiflu capsules and personal protection equipment for the treatment of suspected and positive swine flu cases.

Out of the nine confirmed cases in the state,six were currently under treatment and in the process of recovery.

The directorate has made a request to the Director,Emergency Medical Relief,New Delhi,to supply Tamiflu capsules,syrups and also personal protection equipment for the treatment of suspected and confirmed cases of swine flu.