Thaindian News

New Delhi, Oct 8 (IANS) Eight swine flu deaths, five of them in Maharashtra, were reported Thursday, taking the toll in India to 374, health authorities here said.
As many as 146 new cases were also reported in the country, pushing the total number of people affected with the flu to 11,507. For the first time since the outbreak of the contagious flu May 16, seven positive cases were reported from the distant Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

With the five deaths in Maharashtra, that has reported the maximum number of deaths and cases in the country, the toll in that state has jumped to 153.

While three swine flu deaths were reported in Maharashtra Thursday, two earlier deaths’ laboratory confirmation came Thursday, state health authorities said.

In Karnataka, one death was reported. But two people, who had died earlier, were found to have succumbed to swine flu after the lab reports came positive for the flu. The deaths due to the H1N1 virus in the southern state have now reached 106.

Of these 106 swine flu deaths in Karnataka, 71 were in Bangalore and the remaining from other parts of the state.

“Till date, samples from 48,355 persons have been tested for Influenza A in government laboratories and a few private laboratories across the country, and 11,507 of them have been found positive,” an official statement here said.

Of the 146 new cases Thursday, 44 were from Delhi. With these, the number in the Indian capital has gone up to 2,941 - the second highest after Maharashtra in the country.

Maharashtra reported the second highest new cases Thursday — 35. This takes the total cases in the state to 3,187 - the highest in the country.

New cases were also reported from Kerala (18), Haryana (12), Tamil Nadu (10), Andhra Pradesh (nine) and Uttar Pradesh (one).