Sixteen more Swine flu cases, India's tally now 525

16 new fresh cases of swine flu, including 11 children, were reported Friday, taking the total number of people contaminated with the virus to 525 in India, health officials said.

According to a health ministry statement, the new fresh cases were reported from Pune (10), Hyderabad (2), Delhi (1), Gurgaon (1), Chandigarh (1), and Imphal (1).

2,361 persons have been tested, out of which 525 are positive for Influenza A swine flu (H1N1). A total of 529 out of the 2,361 persons have been identified through entry screening, 489 through contact hunting and the rest were self reported.

Of the 525 positive cases, 369 have been discharged and rest of them is under treatment at chosen health facilities.

Of the ten new fresh cases in Pune, nine were children and one is a 21-year-old man. While all the children slim the sickness from previous patients, the adult had returned from London.

Of the 2 new cases in Hyderabad, one is a 24-year-old man who traveled from Dubai and the second is a 16-year old boy who is a contact of a formerly reported positive case. He was found to be symptomatic July 29 and was accepted to the identified health facility.

The lone case in Delhi is a boy who contracted the disease from a formerly reported positive case. The case from Gurgaon is a 6-year-old boy.

The solitary case in Chandigarh is a 17-year-old youth who got the virus from a earlier patient.

The one reported from Imphal is a 19-year-old woman who traveled from Singapore to New Delhi and then went to Imphal.

Swine flu: Pregnant women top of the list for H1N1 Vaccine

With pregnant women considered in the high-risk category for swine flu complications, the government yesterday recommended they be put at the front of the line for the vaccine expected out in October.

Other priority candidates include health care workers, children six months and older, young adults aged 19 to 24 and non-elderly adults considered high-risk. The recommendations were handed down by a 15-member panel of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and are usually adopted by federal health officials.

Parents and care-givers of infants should also be given the vaccine under the priority category because infants under six months old cannot be given the vaccine, explained health officials.

Six deaths in pregnant women were reported to the Centers for Disease Control since the onset of the virus in April, according to an online study released yeasterday in the Lancet. All of the women had developed pneumonia and acute respiratory distress, said the study, and required mechanical venilation.

There have been a total of 34 confirmed cases of swine flu in pregnant women and of those, 11 women were admitted to the hospital with acute respiratory illness, stated the Lancet study.

Because of the high risk of possible complications, pregnant women should be first on the vaccine list, said Dr. Anne Schuchat of the CDC, in the meeting of health officials yesterday in Atlanta.

"We have seen pregnant women disproportionately affected by this virus," said Schuchat. "They have apparently a four-fold increase of being hospitalized here (as compared to) the general population that gets this virus so we do think that when influenza, including this H1N1 virus strikes pregnant women, worse things happen."

Schuchat stressed that "it's vital" for pregnant women who have respiratory illness and fever to get early treatment. She also advised pregnant women to get the new H1N1 vaccine when available and also the seasonal vaccine to protect against both flu strains.

Article source: http://www.foodconsumer.org/

India: PMC to Survey H1N1 flu Affected Areas

PUNE: The outreach teams of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) will behavior a survey about hundred homes in the area where H1N1 affected students' resides.

Speaking to TOI on Tuesday, R R Pardeshi, acting public medical officer of health (MOH), said, "We will form outreach teams which will conduct a review of housing societies in the locality where the 58 students who were detected with H1N1 stay. Under this survey, about 6,000 people will undergo beginning scrutiny. Those detected with normal influenza will be treated in normal dispensaries, while those leaning towards H1N1 will be admitted to the Naidu hospital. The survey will be started instantaneously and ward officers are already gathering requisite information, before starting the actual survey."

Pardeshi said the PMC was concentrating on areas where the precious 58 students reside. "The school which reported 21 cases of H1N1-affected students is our focus, and we will mostly examine the housing areas where the affected students stay. The PMC is organising a workshop for doctors and multi-purpose workers and also information dissemination centres will be recognized at ward levels. There is no need to panic and H1N1 cases detected in the town are at a mild level," said Pardeshi.

The PMC has appealed that citizens should shun foreign tours as much as possible. They should travel only if it is totally unavoidable. People who have traveled abroad should home quarantine themselves for ten days on their return to India. It is possible that the symptoms may not show up in one day, because the incubation phase of the virus is seven days.

"If people observe any symptoms of the flu, they must instantly contact the Naidu hospital," said additional municipal commissioner M S Devnikar, adding that there was no require to press the panic button and every effort is being made by the PMC to control the situation.

The PMC's Naidu hospital has a 20-bed capacity, which can be augmented to 80 beds, if required. The hospital also has enough supply of tamiflu tablets.

Meanwhile, the PMC has decided to conduct consciousness drives in the city. Mayor Rajlaxmi Bhosale has already ordered that the municipal administration bring out an awareness campaign through advertisements and hoardings in the city.

Swine Flu (H1N1): Manipur Alert after Fencers Get Infected

Manipur fencers having tested positive for the H1N1 swine flu virus in New Delhi.

At least 4 fencers and the coach of a 34-member national fencing team have tested positive for swine flu on their return journey from Singapore, where they joined the recently concluded Junior Asian and Cadet Championship. The group had arrived in New Delhi on Wednesday.

"We have received official intimation that two fencers from Manipur are among the five who were tested positive for swine flu. They are being quarantined and observed at a hospital in the state capital," said The Bhubonchandra Singh, the state nodal officer of Influenza Pandemic.

The 2 fencers, a 17-year-old boy and an 18-year-old girl, are from the capital, he said, adding that this is the first time people from Manipur have been contaminated since the recent global outbreak of the disease.

The senior health official appealed to the people not to panic. "We have been extending our utmost efforts to avoid the disease from spreading."

As part of the preventive programme, state doctors have already been deployed at the Imphal airport to check passengers, mainly those coming from aboard.

"So far we have not found any incoming passengers having symptoms of swine flu. If any suspect case is detected, we will send blood samples for laboratory testing to Kolkata," Singh said.

"Nevertheless we have intensified our routine preventive measures following the latest infection case," he added.

The state veterinary and animal husbandry services department, which is also playing a key role in combating the pandemic, has already imposed a ban on importing pigs from Myanmar.

Stripping of Woman in Public to be Probed in Bihar

The Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar ordered state police chief D.N. Gautam to undertake the probe on Thursday night even though the police headquarters had previously asked Inspector General (Patna zone) Sunil Kumar to look into the incident.

A group of men had allegedly abused, battered and then stripped a woman in her 20s in full public view at a busy road in the state capital on Thursday evening.

A police team was reportedly present at the site and watched the assault on the woman for nearly an hour before taking the culprits to the police station.

Additional Director General of Police (Headquarters) Neelmani said Assistant Sub-inspector Shiv Nath Singh, who was in charge of patrolling the area, has been suspended for not helping the woman in time.

The woman was known as resident of Jesidih, a town in the neighbouring state Jharkhand. Rakesh Kumar, a resident of Punaichak here, had lured her to Patna with a promise of providing a job to her.

Soon after she came here, Rakesh compulsory her to have sex with his friends. She ran away from the hotel where she had been staying with him for the last few days. However, Rakesh and his friends wedged up with her and attacked her.

Police have arrested Rakesh, who is said to be involved in the flesh trade.

"Police have lodged a case against Rakesh and others on the basis of the statement of the woman," an official said.

The state women's commission has asked Patna Senior Superintendent of Police R. Mallar Vizhi to submit a report on the incident.

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad condemned the incident and said that it shows that no government existed in the state.

Silver Pheasant Bird Pair: New attractions at Vandalur zoo

CHENNAI: Three pairs of ring-necked pheasants, 2 pairs of red jungle fowls and a pair of silver pheasant are the new attractions at the Vandalur zoo.

The birds were given by the Kanpur zoo under an exchange programme.

In turn, the Vandalur bird zoo authorities have given the Kanpur zoo two pairs of grey pelicans, painted storks, grey herons, night herons, blossom-headed parakeets and Alexandrian parakeets near a pair of white pea fowl.

The birds from the Kanpur zoo were brought in a special cage, which was booked as bundle in Lucknow Express.

A Range Officer from the Lucknow bird zoo and 2 assistants brought the birds from there, said Vandalur zoo authorities.

Talking about aquatic bird population at the zoo, the authorities said that they were propagation very well at the zoo. Till recently, the authorities used to release the excess number of birds into the Otteri Lake located inside the zoo. However, at a meeting held recently, the authorities decisive to exchange the aquatic birds for some other species of birds with other zoos in the country.

At least 2 to 3 days are needed to pack the birds in envelopment's to be taken to the Kanpur zoo.