Swine flu continues upward trend
PTI
NEW DELHI, SEPT 1
Swine flu continued its upward spiral in the country with 144 fresh cases and one death being reported as the Union Health Ministry set about procuring vaccine from international companies.
While the maximum number of 48 cases were reported from Maharashtra, Delhi reported 10, Karnataka 22, West Bengal 18 and Orissa three.
With the fresh cases, the total number of people affected by swine flu has touched 4,101. The number of people who have died due to the disease has reached 101, according to Union Health Ministry figures.
The lone death reported today was from Goa, the ministry said.
The government said it has asked four pharma giants to conduct human trials of their newly-developed swine flu vaccines in the country, paving way for their import.
The Indian Council of Medical Research has written to pharmaceutical companies Glaxo Smithkline, Novartis, Baxter and Sanofi Pasteurs to conduct the trials in India as part of a bridging study to determine whether the new vaccine had any side effects on the Indian population, Indian Council of Medical Research Director General V M Katoch said.
The Centre also asked people not to delay reporting to identified health facilities in case they have swine flu symptoms saying a study has shown that most of the deceased died due to delay in treatment.
