Swine Flu Claims More Than 500 Lives in India

The death toll due to swine flu has now crossed the 500 mark across India with Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra being the worst-affected states. The Health Ministry officials have reportedly sent central teams to the worst-affected states.

Reports suggest that at least 100 more casualties were reported in just three days since February 12. In Maharashtra, about 50 people have succumbed to the H1N1 virus, taking the total number of cases registered to 352 since January this year. The death toll in Delhi and Tamil Nadu is comparatively low even though the disease is wide spread.

Swine flu is caused by the H1N1 virus and symptoms are similar to those produced by other influenza viruses. Symptoms of swine flu include high fever, headache, muscle pain, diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pain and internal and external bleeding. It is transmitted to humans primarily from ticks and livestock animals with an incubation period of up to nine days. Human-to-human transmission takes about 2-weeks.

Source: Medindia