Swine flu toll in Maharashtra rises to 152; 1,700 people affected

Swine flu claimed nine more lives in Maharashtra on Monday, taking the toll since January 1 this year to 152, a state health department official said.

Swine flu claimed nine more lives in Maharashtra on Monday, taking the toll since January 1 this year to 152, a state health department official said.

Masks-were-distributed-to-school-children-as-a-precaution-against-swine-flu-in-Mumbai-The-swine-flu-outbreak-in-the-country-has-set-alarm-bells-ringing-Vijayanand-Gupta-HT-photo

Fifty-four new cases of the disease were detected on Monday, taking the count of the affected people to 1,789.

"As many as 42 patients are in a serious condition and have been kept on ventilator," the official said.

He said 38 people have died in Nagpur, 16 in Pune, 10 in Nashik and three in Mumbai, among other places.

The state government has procured enough stock of Oseltamivir, commonly known as Tamiflu, and government hospitals across the state have been equipped with ventilators and `N95 masks' for H1N1 patients, he said.

Meanwhile, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said that private hospitals had been asked to treat the swine flu patients free.