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Journalism of Courage
In the first case of a swine flu death in Tamil Nadu in two years,a 72-year-old farmer from a village near the textile hub of Tirupur died of the H1N1 virus on Saturday.
With reports of swine flu cases trickling in from Chennai and Coimbatore two fresh cases have been reported in Chennai the state Health Department has sounded an alert and asked all government hospitals to be prepared for mass screening of patients.
According to health officials here,the victim,Kandasamy from Koduvai village,was admitted to a private hospital 12 days ago with severe respiratory infection. With his condition deteriorating,his blood samples were tested for H1N1 a couple of days ago.
He tested positive for swine flu, said Dr R Sivaprakasam of Coimbatore Medical College Hospital.
According to Kandasamys relatives,he had not travelled outside Tamil Nadu for the past two months though he had come in contact with people from neighbouring Karnataka at his daughters wedding in February.
