India’s swine flu toll reaches 707

NEW DELHI - Seven swine flu deaths were reported in India Monday, taking the toll due to Influenza A (H1N1) virus to 707 so far, health authorities said here.

Also, 239 new cases have been reported in the country, taking the number of people infected with the contagious virus to 21,970.

In Punjab, three deaths were reported Monday, while two deaths each were reported from the national capital and Rajasthan and one death was reported from Gujarat.

With the two more swine flu deaths in the national capital, the death toll has touched 44, officials said.

The victims were an 11-year-old girl and a 43-year-old woman. “Both were suffering from bronchial pneumonia,” Anjana Prakash, additional nodal officer for swine flu cases in Delhi, told IANS.

“With these two deaths, the total death count in Delhi is 44,” she added.

Delhi also recorded 154 new cases of swine flu Monday, of which 88 were children. This has taken the cumulative number of swine flu cases in the capital to 7,506, Prakash said.

New cases were also recorded from Rajasthan (41), Maharashtra (23), Uttar Pradesh (22), Karnataka (16),Gujarat (10) and Haryana (8).