Flu claims two lives in Delhi, nationwide toll touches 38

NEW DELHI/BANGALORE: Swine flu has claimed four more lives, including its first two victims in Delhi, taking the nationwide toll to 38 even as the country witnessed a sharp rise in the infection with the total number of those afflicted by the pandemic rising by 216 cases to 2,242.

Samrat Pandeya (31) died of the disease this morning at the government-run Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in the capital, while Renu Gupta (38) succumbed to the virus last night there, the hospital Medical Superintendent N K Chaturvedi said.

In the IT hub of Bangalore, 45-year-old Edward Mohan, who was being treated for the viral infection at Shifa Hospital since August 15, died yesterday.

Kalpana, 36, died due to swine flu on August 17, three days after she was admitted to Ramaiah Hospital and put on a ventilator, health officials said in Bangalore, adding both of them died of acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Karnataka now accounts for the second highest flu deaths in the country with seven fatalities. Maharashtra has recorded 20 deaths due to the viral infection, which includes 15 in worst-hit Pune.

Besides the casualties in Maharashtra and Karnataka, the countrywide flu toll includes four deaths in Gujarat, two each in Delhi and Chhattisgarh and one each in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Uttarakhand.

There was a sharp rise in the number of flu cases yesterday with 216 people from various states testing positive for the deadly virus, taking the total number of those afflicted to 2,242, a Health Ministry official said in Delhi.