Thaindian News

New Delhi, July 18 (IANS) Seventeen people, including 14 children, were detected with the swine flu Saturday, taking the total influenza A (H1N1) virus cases in India to 285, health officials said.
The youngest to test positive for the virus is an 11-month-old boy.

“So far 1,506 people have been tested out of which 285 are positive for influenza A (H1N1). Of the 285 positive cases, 178 have been discharged,” a statement said here.

The 17 new confirmed cases were reported from Delhi (7), Pune (5), Cochin (2), Thiruvananthapuram (1), Kozhikode (1) and Goa (1).

The 11-month-old boy with swine flu is from Delhi. The child had travelled from New York to Delhi July 14. Two days later, he developed flu-like symptoms.

Two brothers, 14 and 10 years old, and two sisters, aged nine and two-and-a-half-years, also tested positive Saturday.

According to Anjana Prakash, additional nodal officer for swine flu with the Delhi government, 10 students were admitted at various identified health facilities with flu like symptoms. Of the total, four tested positive. The reports of six are awaited.

All these students are from four prestigious public schools in the national capital.

“We have reiterated to the school authorities to ensure that if any student shows flu-like symptoms the child should be immediately sent home,” she said.

“There is nothing to panic. But people need to be cautious,” Prakash told IANS.

In Pune, all five cases, four girls and a boy all in their early teens, got the virus from infected persons.

In Kochi, one of the two cases is of a nine-year old boy. He had come from London July 17. And as he was suffering from fever and cough, he was taken to the identified facility. His test was positive for swine flu.

In Thiruvananthapuram, a 10-year-old girl, who travelled from Britain via Dubai, was found to be suffering from flu-like symptoms.

In Kozhikode, a 15-year-old girl was detected with swine flu, while in Goa, a 20-year-old man tested positive.