India's swine flu tally jumps to 298

New Delhi: Thirteen new swine flu cases were reported on Sunday, taking the total number of influenza A(H1N1) virus cases to 298 in India, health officials said here.

"A total of 1,549 people have been tested so far, of whom 298 are positive for influenza A(H1N1)," a statement issued here said, adding that 181 people have been discharged from the health facilities.

Health officials said 13 new laboratory-confirmed cases were reported from Delhi (3), Chandigarh (2), Punjab (1), Kerala (1), Gurgaon (3), Hyderabad (2) and Pune (1).

Of the three cases in Delhi, a 13-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy tested positive. They contracted the virus from those who had been tested positive earlier, the officials said.

The third case is of a seven-year-old boy, who travelled from London and reached Delhi July 18. He was detected at the airport as he was found to be having fever, headache and running nose.

He was admitted to an identified health facility and was detected with the virus on Sunday.

In Chandigarh, two cases were reported - a 29-year-old doctor with the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), who recently attended a seminar in Britain, and a 50-year-old woman who returned from Singapore July 14.

H C Gera, the union territory's nodal officer for swine flu cases, said, "Both patients were complaining of sore throat and running nose. After seeing their travel history, we took precautionary measures and admitted them in isolated wards."

The doctor is admitted in PGIMER while the woman is in a government hospital.

In Punjab's Roopnagar, an eight-year-old boy, who had travelled from Singapore via Bangkok and had reached Delhi July 12, was detected with the flu.

In Kerala's Kasargod area, a six-year-old boy was found to be infected with the virus. The boy came from Sharjah to Kozhikode July 14. He was admitted to the hospital July 16 after he showed flu-like symptoms.

Officials said in Gurgaon, three girl students aged 14, 11 and eight years contracted the virus through another school student.

In Hyderabad, two people were tested positive for the flu. The two patients - a physician from Riyadh and a software engineer from Malaysia - have been quarantined at the Andhra Pradesh Chest Hospital, the nodal centre to deal with swine flu cases in the city.

Doctors said the two landed in the city last week with swine flu symptoms.

This has taken to 39 Hyderabad city's swine flu tally since May 16, when India's first case was reported there. Of them, 30 have been treated and discharged, state authorities said.

In Pune, a 13-year old girl got the flu after she came in touch with another student in her school who had the infection.