Swine flu toll touches 14 in Pune, India's toll 22

PUNE: Five people, including two septuagenarian women and an AIDS patient, on Thursday died of swine flu here taking the death toll in the city to 14.

70-year-old Parubhai Shinde, hailing from Ganesh Nagar in Yerawada, was admitted to a hospital here four days back following high fever and other symptoms of swine flu and died late Thursday night, health officials said.

Another senior citizen, Bharati Goyal, who was suffering from fever and breathlessness for the last four days, had been on ventilator when she died today of suspected swine flu, sources said.

37-year-old Archana Kolhe, who was shifted to government-run Sassoon Hospital on August 10 with fever and acute respiratory problems from a private hospital, succumbed to the flu in the afternoon, Pune Municipal Corporation Commissioner Mahesh Zagade told reporters.

An eight-month-old boy, Swabhiman Kamble, died late last night in Sahyadri Hospital, a designated private hospital to treat flu patients, Zagade said, adding that reports of his throat swab samples are still awaited.

44-year-old HIV positive Prabhakar Wariager died late this evening of swine flu within hours of his admission to the Sassoon Hospital.

Wairager, hailing from Watgaon village in the district, had earlier tested positive for the swine flu and admitted to the hospital in the afternoon, hospital sources said.