50 more swine flu cases in Telangana

Hyderabad, Jan 24 (IANS) Fifty new cases of swine flu have been reported in Telangana, officials said Saturday.

With this, the number of swine flu cases in the state has mounted to 290.

Government-run hospitals in Hyderabad have sent blood samples of 100 more people for H1N1 tests to the Institute of Preventive Medicine (IPM) here.

Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) director L. Narendranath Saturday told reporters that one woman died of swine flu Friday, taking the toll to 21.

Narendranath, who is also the government's spokesman on swine flu, said 12 people died last month and nine this month.

He said 150 beds have been arranged at Osmania Hospital and NIMS to deal with the increasing number of cases.

Patients, who don't require life support system, are being shifted from Gandhi Hospital, the nodal centre for swine flu, to other hospitals so that doctors can attend to critical cases.

The authorities have arranged sufficient number of beds and medicines at major government-run hospitals in Hyderabad, which along with neighbouring Ranga Reddy district, account for 90 percent of the cases.

The spokesman said 24 mobile medical teams, with two doctors and an auxiliary nurse each, have been pressed into service in Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy.

The teams are also screening the inmates of those houses, which reported positive cases.