India's swine flu toll rises to 106

New Delhi, Sep 2 (IANS) Five more people died of swine flu in India Wednesday, taking the toll due to the influenza A (H1N1) virus to 106, health authorities said here.

Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra reported two deaths each, while one person died in Karnataka.

In Maharashtra, which has topped the chart for maximum swine flu deaths and cases, one death was reported from Pune, declared an epidemic city, while the second death was in Thane.

While two deaths in Andhra Pradesh were from Hyderabad, in Karnataka, one person succumbed to the disease in Mysore.

As many as 97 people were tested positive for H1N1, taking the total to 4,198.

'Till date, samples from 22,847 people have been tested for influenza A (H1N1) in various government laboratories across the country and 4,198 of them have been found positive,' the health ministry said in a statement.

Karnataka reported the maximum number of fresh cases Wednesday. With 31 confirmed cases, the total number of positive cases in the state has gone up to 494.

It was followed by Tamil Nadu, where 22 people were detected with the flu.

Delhi also continues to report fresh cases. On Wednesday, 10 people tested positive, taking the total number of people affected with the virus to 675 - the second highest in the country.

For the first time since the outbreak, Maharashtra recorded a substantially lower number of cases as eight people tested positive, taking the total number of people affected in the state to 1,695 - the highest in the country.

The other states that reported fresh cases were Gujarat (9), Kerala (6), West Bengal (5), Uttarakhand (3), Haryana (2) and Uttar Pradesh (1).

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