File Photo: Medical staff work at the swine flu (H1N1) isolation ward of the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital. (AFP Photo)
The death toll from swine flu this year has soared to 596, with more than 100 more casualties reported across the country in three days since February 12, prompting the Centre to order additional stocks of medicines and diagnostic kits.
While the total number of swine flu deaths had stood at 485 till February 12, the latest official data released today says more than 100 people have succumbed to the H1N1 virus in the three days till February 15, taking the toll to 596. Altogether, 8,423 people have contracted swine flu this year in the country.
Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra are the worst-affected states with their respective tolls standing at 176, 144, 76 and 58, official figures said.
On February 15 alone, Rajasthan reported 12 deaths. With the number of swine flu cases continuing to rise in Rajasthan, a three-member team from the critical care unit from Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital is in Jaipur to help with the swine flu outbreak.
Eight fresh casualties have been reported from Madhya Pradesh and six from Gujarat.
While Delhi and Tamil Nadu have reported a high incidence of swine flu cases, the death toll in the two states is relatively low due to high level of awareness and a better developed health sector.
For instance, while close to 1500 cases were detected in Delhi, there have been only seven deaths. Comparitively, Rajasthan has seen 176 deaths out of 2928 cases detected.
Punjab has the highest ratio of the number of deaths to those affected by the disease. Of the 68 people who contracted the virus in the state this year, 25 have succumbed to swine flu.
Doctors say the high mortality rates are because of affected persons coming in for treatment at an advanced stage of the disease.
Health Ministry officials said they have sent Central teams to the worst-affected states like Rajasthan and Gujarat, and have developed appropriate guidelines.
"The government has already placed an order for enhancing stocks of diagnostic kits - for testing for the H1N1 virus - to be supplied to the lab network under Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme.
"To enhance the level of preparedness, additional stocks of the drug, Oseltamivir, and 10,000 N-95 masks are also being procured," an official statement said.