Swine flu death toll crosses 500 across the country

The death toll due to swine flu has now crossed the 500 mark across the country with Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra being the worst-affected states.

Reports say at least 100 more casualties were reported in just three days since February 12.

In Maharashtra, at least 50 people have succumbed to the H1N1 virus, taking the total number of cases registered to 352 since January this year

The death toll in Delhi and Tamil Nadu, though, is comparatively low even though the disease is wide spread.

Health Ministry officials have reportedly sent central teams to the worst-affected states like Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Swine flu is caused by H1N1 virus. H1N1 symptoms are similar to those produced by other influenza viruses - fever, cough, sore throat, body aches and respiratory problems.

Symptoms for swine flu include high fever, headache, muscle pain, diarrhoea, vomiting, stomach pain and internal and external bleeding. It is transmitted to people primarily from ticks and livestock animals with an incubation period of up to nine days. Human-to-human transmission takes up to two weeks.