Swine flu deaths go up in India

(August 10, 2009) There are more than 800 cases of the H1N1 flu strain in India. The number of people to die of swine flu in India has risen to six with the death of a number of patients over the weekend, health officials say. Six patients are reported to be in a serious condition in the western city of Pune, which has recorded more cases than anywhere else in India. A number of schools in the country have been shut temporarily over fears of children contracting the disease. Officials say there are more than 800 cases of the H1N1 flu strain in India. The virus is thought to have killed almost 800 people around the world. A 53-year-old doctor of indigenous medicine and a four-year-old boy died in hospitals in western Pune and southern Chennai cities early on Monday. Over the weekend, three people died of the flu in western India and last Monday, a 14-year-old girl became the first person in the country to die of swine flu. Health officials say that the country had enough stocks of the anti-flu drug Tamiflu. However, panic is growing among the people with swine flu deaths making it to the front pages of newspapers and main TV news. Indian PM Manmohan Singh has asked the health ministry to step up preparedness against the disease and coordinate with state governments to help stop the disease spreading. "All state governments have been asked to set up their own swine flu help lines, create more quarantine wards not only in their hospitals but also in the big private hospitals. The swine flu (H1N1) virus first emerged in Mexico in April and has since spread to 74 countries.