Swine flu claims 34 more lives, more than 15,000 affected

Swine flu has claimed the lives of 34 more persons raising the toll to 875 across the country even as the number of affected people breached the 15,000 mark on Tuesday.

Collated data by Health Ministry said 875 persons have died in various states till February 23 this year while 15,413 persons have been affected by the disease.

Health Minister J P Nadda on Tuesday confirmed in both the Houses of Parliament that the cases of Influenza A currently being reported are of H1N1 which is the same virus which took a huge toll during 2009 and there is "no mutation" in the virus.

He said that Oseltamivir drug used during the time of pandemic 2009-2010 remains effective for treatment now as well.

As per the Health Ministry data, the highest number of casualties has been reported from Rajasthan where 225 people have perished due to the disease while 4,734 people are affected with the deadly virus.

Gujarat is the second most affected state with 219 people dead while 3,337 people affected with the virus. The data said that 117 people have died in Madhya Pradesh while 660 have been affected while 103 persons have perished in Maharashtra where 1,055 persons have been affected.

In Delhi, eight persons have been died while the number of persons affected rose to 2,337. In other states like Telangana and Punjab, 51 and 37 deaths have been reported respectively.

"The situation is being closely monitored by us and all necessary assistance is being provided to the states. Adequate stocks of medicine, masks and PPE are available. No efforts will be spared for effectively dealing with the situation," Nadda said.

World Health Organisation said it was "carefully watching" the swine flu situation in India though it said that there are "no signs" yet of the makings of a large outbreak of the H1N1 virus.