Thaindian News

Lucknow, Aug 20 (IANS) Twelve fresh cases of swine flu were reported in Uttar Pradesh Thursday, prompting the health department to ask the central government for more Tamiflu tablets. The total number of swine flu patients in the state is now 45.
“We had received 85 samples out of which 12 tested positive today (Thursday),” T.N.Dhole, the head of the microbiology department in the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS), told IANS here.

Nearly 90 percent of the cases were reported from Lucknow, the state capital.

Lucknow’s Chief Medical Officer A.K. Shukla however claimed most of the positive cases were of those who had come to the city from affected places like Pune or abroad.

“At least 7 to 8 of those who tested positive today (Thursday) were from among a group of Bhartendu Natya Kendra students who just returned after attending a three-month training programme in Pune,” he said.

Even as the state government maintained that there was no cause to worry, state Health Minister Anant Kumar Misra asked the central government to enhance the supplies of Tamiflu tablets, the medicine for treatment of swine flu.

“What I have been trying to impress upon the centre is that even as we have sufficient stocks for the time being, the supply of Tamiflu is not commensurate with the population of the state,” he said.