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Udupi woman dies of A(H1N1) influenza

Udupi: A 33-year-old woman from Shiroor in Kundapura taluk, Udupi district, died of A(H1N1) influenza in a private hospital in Mangaluru on Monday morning. Dakshina Kannada District Health Surveillance Officer Rajesh said that the woman was admitted to the hospital on February 24. However, she did not respond to the treatment and passed away.

22 cases in district Rohini, Udupi District Health Surveillance Officer, said that of the 22 cases reported in the district so far, in 18 cases, the patients had recovered and had been discharged.

The remaining four are being treated at Kasturba Hospital in Manipal.

Swine flu claims 34 more lives, toll mounts to 1,075

Swine flu has claimed 34 more lives as the nationwide toll from the H1N1 virus touched 1,075. The number of cases of the disease is inching towards the 20,000 mark.

Health Ministry figures said that 1,075 persons have perished from the disease while the number of those affected by swine flu stands at 19,972 till Saturday, PTI reported.

The data showed that Gujarat has pipped Rajasthan in terms of the number of deaths with 265 casualties while 4,368 people are affected by the disease in the state.
 
Gujarat state government officials said in Ahmedabad that 10 more people succumbed to swine flu on Sunday, taking the toll to 275. Besides, 247 new cases were also recorded in the state, taking the total number of cases to 4,614, an official statement said. Union Health Ministry officials said they were collating latest information on swine flu.

Rajasthan has seen 261 persons fall prey to the H1N1 virus with 5,528 cases reported.

In Madhya Pradesh, swine flu has claimed 153 lives while 1,010 people were affected by the virus. The toll in Maharashtra touched 143 with 1,735 cases having so far come to light.

In Telangana and Punjab, the disease has claimed 57 and 42 lives, respectively while in Delhi, 10 persons have died due to swine flu. The number of affected persons in the national capital has risen to 2,891.

The disease has claimed the lives of 46 persons in Karnataka with Haryana (21 deaths), Andhra Pradesh (12 deaths), Himachal Pradesh (eight deaths), Jammu and Kashmir and Kerala (both seven deaths) also grappling with swine flu.

West Bengal saw 16 new cases of swine flu reported in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of those affected to 131. A state health official said that the disease has claimed eight lives in WB.

In Odisha today, the toll stands at four after a 34-year old woman became the latest victim of swine flu, a health department official said.

Forty-five fresh swine flu cases were reported in Uttar Pradesh, taking the total for those affected to 614.

Health Ministry figures show that in 2009, the virus had affected a total of 27,236 persons and caused 981 casualties while, in 2010, 20,604 persons were affected by the virus with the toll reaching 1,763.

Health Minister JP Nadda had earlier said that the 21 laboratories capable at present of testing swine flu were "not enough" and the government was planning to set up H1N1 testing facilities in every state with financial provisions being made for it.

The government has repeatedly asserted that it was "very serious" about combating the disease and has asked the people to not panic but remain alert.

Swine flu scare: 10,000 lawyers go on vacation in Ahmedabad

In view of the swine flu outbreak, nearly 10,000 lawyers on Tuesday went on a five-day mass leave in Ahmedabad.

The lawyers practising at the Gujarat High Court distributed masks and placed sanitisers in all the washrooms. Photo:Reuters

"As many as 10,000 advocates, who are practising in five courts, including the Ahmedabad district and rural court, metropolitan court, city sessions court, small cause court and family court, will not work from March 3 to March 7 due to the swine flu menace in the city," Rajesh Parekh, Ahmedabad District Bar Association president told PTI.

The Bar Association on Monday issued a notification, which stated that the recent unseasonal rains can spread the deadly H1N1 virus, he said.
 
However, the lawyers will continue to take urgent matters, like bail petitions of under trial prisoners, he added.

When asked about the measures taken by the advocates to avoid swine flu, he said the Bar Association will distribute free herbal medicines.

"We have prepared ’Ukala’ (a herbal concoction) and will distribute it among the advocates from Tuesday. If a person consumes it daily, he or she can be protected from swine flu," he said.

Besides, the lawyers practising at the Gujarat High Court distributed masks and placed sanitisers in all the washrooms to protect them from the swine flu.

The Gujarat High Court Advocates Association (GHAA) has requested the High Court not to take action against the lawyers who do not want to come for hearing of the cases taken up by them, due to the fear of swine flu.

"There are lawyers who are concerned about swine flu and do not want to come till the situation improves. Thus, we requested the court that no adverse action should be taken against those who do not turn up during the hearing of their matter. The High Court accepted our request," senior lawyer Yatin Oza said.

As many as 283 people have died of swine flu in Gujarat so far this year, with Ahmedabad registering 79 fatalities.

There have been 4,766 H1N1 viral infection cases in the state this year, including 1,683 in Ahmedabad.