Woman dies of swine flu in Pune, countrywide toll rises to 28

Passengers wear masks as they travel in a train which goes to Pune, in Mumbai. Photo: Shashi Ashiwal

A 36-year-old woman has died of swine flu in Pune, the city worst hit by the virus, taking the nationwide toll to 28.

As the disease continued to spread, 152 fresh cases were reported till Sunday. With this, the total number of

positive cases has mounted to 1707 across the country, Health Ministry officials said in New Delhi.

The woman, identified as Bina Gonsalves, died of swine flu in Sassoon hospital in Pune late on Sunday night, official sources said.

She was admitted to the hospital on August 13 with suspected swine flu symptoms, they said. The death toll due to the disease in Pune has now risen to 13.

Besides the fatalities in Pune and Bangalore, which accounts for five deaths, one person each has died due to the viral disease in Ahmedabad, Nashik, Raipur, Bilaspur, Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram and two each in Mumbai and Vadodara.

Health Ministry officials said of the 152 new flu cases being reported on Sunday, Mumbai recorded the highest with 60 cases.

Pune reported 18 cases, Delhi and Chennai 11 each while Bangalore and Coimbatore 10 each, they said. Nine cases were reported in Aurangabad while Ernakulam and Mangalore had three cases each and Akola, Devangere and Jalna two cases each, they said.