Swine flu has killed 11 people in Madhya Pradesh while 12 are undergoing treatment after getting infected with the H1N1 virus, an official said on Friday.
From 1 August till 17 September, samples of 180 suspected swine flu patients have been tested, of which 34 tested positive. Of them, 11 people died, health department director K.L. Sahu was quoted by IANS.
Of the 11 dead, 10 people belonged to Madhya Pradesh, while one was from Pune, Maharashtra.
A total of 11 patients have recovered and gone home, he said. The other patients were undergoing treatment in Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur and Gwalior, the official said.
However, it’s the Maharashtra, which has been affected by swine flu the most. According to the latest report released by the Union health ministry, as many as 6,843 swine flu cases and 623 casualties were reported in the state till end-August. 38 swine flu deaths and 378 cases were reported in the first eight days of September.
Gujarat with 6,662 cases and 450 deaths and Rajasthan with 6,705 cases and 436 deaths are just behind Mahrashtra.
“The country has reported 2,276 swine flu deaths between January 1 and August 31. Of them, as many as 1,830 deaths were collectively reported from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Maharashtra has reported the highest number of swine flu cases and deaths because of contagion in the country,” a senior official of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) under the Union health ministry told Times of India.
Hindustan Times reported that in an analysis by the health department to understand the reasons for the rising death toll, experts had blamed the delay in initiating treatment for the high fatality numbers.
About 65% of the patients who died of H1N1 were started on treatment three days after they experienced the first symptoms, the paper reported.
