Swine flu kills three more, India toll climbs to 88

    The nationwide swine flu toll climbed to 88 with a teenaged girl and two women dying due to the virus in Karnataka and Maharashtra while 177 fresh cases of infection were reported from various states.

    16-year-old Sunanda Kandawal was admitted to BLD Medical College Hospital in Bijapur in Karnataka on August 24 with fever and cough but had to be shifted to Al Ameen Medical College Hospital next day since ventilator facility was not available at the BLD Hospital, health official said in Bangalore. The girl, who had also contracted pneumonia, died last night, they said, adding that her swab test confirmed the virus infection. Karnataka now accounts for 20 flu deaths.

    In Nashik, Purva Amol Joshi (23), who was pregnant, and Deepali Shinde (20) died yesterday at the Nashik Civil Hospital, A D Bhalsingh, a surgeon, said. Both the victims were local residents. He said reports from Pune's National Institute of Virology had confirmed that they were suffering from flu.

Region Wise split up of casualities

    With three deaths, the countrywide toll has risen to 88. Maharashtra now accounts for 46 fatalities — 25 in Pune, nine in Mumbai, seven in Nashik, two in Aurangabad and one each in Dhule and Latur. 20 people have died in Karnataka, 7 in Gujarat, three each in Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and Delhi, two in Uttarakhand and one each in Kerala, Goa, Rajasthan and Haryana.

Swine flu promoting sale of hand sanitizers

    NEW DELHI: The scare of swine flu appears to have made Indians more conscious of personal hygiene, going by the increasing sale of products like hand sanitizers, gels, wet wipes and liquid sopa over the past month.

    "Suddenly everybody seems to have become conscious of personal hygiene. The demand for things like hand sanitizers has shot up in the past few weeks," said North Delhi Chemists Association president Ashok Jain. "We've seen a 100 percent jump in sales of hand sanitizers, hand gels and wet tissues in Delhi and surrounding areas," Jain told IANS, adding that with fear looming large, this was only going to increase. Concurred All Delhi Chemist Association president Kailash Gupta: "After masks, sales of hand sanitizers have gone up. If earlier stores were selling 10 bottles, now they are selling 100." 

Government may allow restricted sale of Tamiflu

    India on Thursday said that it was open to the idea of allowing the "restricted sale" of swine flu drug Tamiflu in the market, but only if the situation demanded it."If the situation demands, we will allow restricted sale of Tamiflu," said Minister of State for Health Dinesh Trivedi.

    "The situation has not arisen so far. But we will not hesitate if such a situation arises. Sale in open market needs regulation. We have not allowed open sale because swine flu is still under control and overuse can lead to drug resistance," the minister said on the sidelines of a Life Science Conclave.

Swine flu alert for Haj pilgrims

    With around three million Muslims, including over 160,000 Indians, expected to gather in Saudi Arabia for the annual Haj pilgrimage in October, the Saudi government has advised pilgrims to take extra precautions because of the swine flu scare as crowded places are not safe from the point of view of contracting the virus. Vulnerable groups, like children, people above 65 and those with chronic diseases have been advised not to travel, official sources said.

    The Saudi government has agreed to allow 160,491 Indian pilgrims to travel to Mecca and Medina for the annual Haj between Oct 20 and Nov 21, external affairs ministry spokesperson Vishnu Prakash told reporters Thursday.
Shot ready bu Oct, but India has to wait 
     A vaccine against the deadly H1N1 influenza virus is likely to be available by mid-October. However, India will have to wait till early 2010 to get its hands on them.
    French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis, which is presently testing its H1N1 vaccine on humans, said it was well on track to make available the vaccine against swine flu by October.