Six more swine flu cases - nasa

Of the 20 cases tested positive so far, 11 have been discharged. The rest are stable and admitted at identified health facilities

Hardnews Bureau

Six more persons tested positive for influenza A (H1N1) virus in Bangalore and Jalandhar. Of these, three cases were reported from Hyderabad, two from Bangalore and one from Jalandhar. The total number of swine flu cases rose to 23 in India.

A school boy from Punjab was confirmed with the influenza virus after returning to Delhi from an educational trip from NASA. The 17-year-old, who travelled from Orlando to Delhi, transiting New York by Qatar Airlines flight was quarantined at Delhi Airport on June 13. He was travelling with a group of 31 school children from Jalandhar. The Union health ministry has requested Punjab government to follow up these children, learnt Hardnews.

Another 29-year-old woman and her three-year-old daughter coming from New Jersey to Bangalore by Air France Flight transiting New York and Paris, reached Bangalore on June 12. They complained of fever and cough. Both have tested positive. Their family and social contacts are being traced and put on chemoprophylaxis.

Two other confirmed cases included two sisters, aged eight and four, who landed with their mother from New Jersey by Indian Airlines flight. However, their mother's health status is yet to be confirmed. She has been kept under observation.

Another confirmed case from Hyderabad was a 42-year-old woman who tested positive on June 12. She flew to India with her 20-month-old grandson from New Jersey in an Air India flight on June 9.

Four passengers were admitted to the Chest Hospital Hyderabad on Sunday with suspected symptoms of swine flu. Among them are a 43-year-old woman, who came in from Kuwait, a six-year-old girl from Minneapolis and two more cases from the US.

Meanwhile, the WHO has reported 29,699 laboratory confirmed cases of influenza A/ H1N1 infection from74 countries as on June 12. There have been 145 deaths.

According to the Union health ministry, health screening of passengers coming from affected countries is continuing in 21 international airports. On June 14, 46,657 passengers were screened. Around 28,962 passengers were from affected countries. For this, 221 doctors and 111 paramedics have been deployed to man 76 counters at these airports.

So far, samples of 272 persons have been tested of which 20 have been tested positive for novel Influenza A [H1N1]. Only two of these are indigenous cases who contracted the infection from positive cases who came in from abroad. The rest of the samples have been found negative for the virus.

Of the 20 cases, 11 have been discharged. The rest are stable and are admitted at identified health facilities.

Among the 272 tested, 90 were identified through health screening at international airports. In rest of the cases, persons reported themselves.