17 new swine flu cases push India tally to 229, 88 in hospital

India Tuesday reported 17 new swine flu cases, taking the total number of people infected with the influenza A(H1N1) virus to 229 while a whopping number of 88 are in hospitals, a health ministry official said Tuesday.

“So far, about 1,246 people have been tested, of whom 229 are positive for Influenza A(H1N1). Out of the total people tested for the virus, 370 were identified through airport screening,” the official said.

“Of the 229 positive cases, 141 have been discharged. Rest of them - 88 people - remain admitted to the identified health facility,” a health ministry statement said.

The 17 new cases have been reported from Chennai (6), Ahmedabad (1), Pune (1), Hyderabad (3) Kolkata (2), Thiruvananthapuram (2), Delhi (1), and Bangalore (1).

Health officials said most of the swine flu cases detected Tuesday are children who had returned from a yearlong study tour in the US.

The children had travelled by American Airlines and had reached Delhi July 4 and after staying here for three days, they flew off to their homes.

In Chennai, of the six cases reported, four are of those children who had gone for the study tour.

A total of 40 children had gone under the yearlong exchange programme through an NGO and had traveled back to India from Chicago.

These children belong to Maharashtra (9), Gujarat (18), Karnataka (1), Tamil Nadu (7) and Delhi (5).

One child who tested positive for the flu transmitted the virus to his grandmother in Chennai, officials said here.

In Ahmedabad, a person who came in contact with a US-returned child tested positive for the flu, was found to be infected with the virus. In Pune, one of the children from the same US returned group was tested positive for the swine flu.

Last week, in Ahmedabad two people belonging to the group of 40 had tested positive for the flu.

In Kolkatta, a 45-year-old man and his 10-year-old daughter tested positive for the flu. They had come from London via Delhi and reached Kolkata July 11.

In Thiruvananthapuram, a nine-year old boy and a seven-year-old girl tested positive for the swine flu. Their mother had earlier been found infected with the virus.

Last updated on Jul 14^th, 2009 at 20:39 pm IST--IANS