Eight more swine flu deaths in Rajasthan, toll 183

Jaipur, Feb 17 (IANS) Eight more people died of swine flu in Rajasthan Tuesday, taking the toll this year to 183, an official said.

"Total number of swine flu deaths reported in the state since the start of this year touched 183 as at 9.30 p.m. on Tuesday. The total positive cases have also risen to 3,302 across the state as of today," a medical and health department official told IANS.

Meanwhile, the National Law University in Jodhpur has been closed till March 1 as a student has tested postive for the disease.

Maximum 31 deaths have occurred in Jaipur while 25 deaths have been reported from Ajmer district.

The opposition Congress has flayed the Vasundhara Raje government on swine flu deaths.

"The state government is solely responsible for the deaths....there were no tablets and medicines available on private and government medical counters till recently. We are asking for a compensation of Rs.5 lakh to be paid to the family members of those who died due to the flu," state party spokesman Pratap Singh Khachariyawas told IANS.

Meanwhile, the state government has appealed to the public not to panic and take a doctor's advice as soon as the symptoms of the disease are witnessed as it was possible to cure the problem with proper and timely medication.

State Health Minister Rajendra Rathore has asked all the government hospitals to to speed up the process of getting medical test report as soon as possible so that treatment of a patient can be started early. Swine flu test has already been made free of cost in government run hospitals across the state.

The medical and health department officials have also been asked to screen the people who have come in contact with swine flu patients in the last one to three weeks.

All the hospitals have also been asked to keep full stock of medicines required for the treatment of H1N1 influenza.