191 swine flu deaths reported in India in January 2015

New Delhi: Swine flu has claimed 191 lives in the country in January alone with Telangana reporting the highest number of cases of people afflicted with the H1N1 virus followed by Delhi, the government said on Tuesday.

The total number of cases of swine flu coming to light across India in January stood at 2,038. Delhi saw 488 persons coming down with the disease with five deaths reported between January 1 to February 1 of this year, Telangana recorded 629 cases with 34 deaths.

In Gujarat, 309 persons contracted swine flu with the virus claiming 38 lives, said a senior health ministry official.

The Health Ministry data said that 205 swine flu cases were reported in Rajasthan, where the death toll from the virus stands at 49, while 73 cases have been noted in Maharasthra with 22 casualties.

Tamil Nadu witnessed 93 cases with seven lives claimed by the disease while Madhya Pradesh and Haryana reported 49 and 57 cases with the death toll in these states standing at 17 and eight, respectively.

Andhra Pradesh reported 33 cases, leading to four deaths. Sharing the details, Additional Secretary in the Health Ministry, Arun Panda, told reporters that, last year, 937 cases of swine flu were reported in the country leading to 238 deaths.

In 2012, there were 5,044 reported cases of swine flu, which claimed the lives of 405 people while in 2013, there were 5,253 cases and 699 deaths, he added. Panda said that the present spurt is seasonal and all necessary assistance and support is being provided to the states to deal with the situation.

He said that the secretary of the ministry will hold a video conference with officials of the affected states tomorrow to discuss the measures to be taken to combat the disease.

"The frequency of advertisements of dos and don'ts will be increased and we will also request the states to come out with such advertisements in local newspapers and in local languages to spread awareness about the disease among the people," Panda said.