Swine Flu death toll reaches 33 in K’taka; 602 Test positive since Jan

In Karnataka, 33 people have died and 602 confirmed positive of swine flu since January this year.

Health Department official Dr. Parimala told AIR Bengaluru Correspondent that nine people died of swine flu in January and 24 this month.

Two people aged 72 and 80 died of H1N1 influenza in Chitradurga and Davangere on last Wednesday.

Dr.Parimala said that awareness about the disease has improved as more and more patients are approaching hospitals for check up. She said there was shortage of testing kit in NIMHANS but the state Government has made arrangements to procure the kits locally.

The testing labs in NIMHANS in Bengaluru and KMC in Manipal are conducting Swab tests free of cost, but other four private sector labs charge around 2500 rupees for the tests.