Swine flu toll reaches 316 in Gujarat

The swine flu toll in Gujarat has reached 316 since January this year, with ten more deaths reported today.
According to a health bulletin issued by the state government, ten persons infected with H1N1 virus died in different parts of the state in the last 24 hours even as 201 new cases were registered.
At present, 23 persons infected with the virus are on ventilator support, it said.
As many as 1,275 patients have been cured and discharged during the last eight days, taking the number of those recovered from the infection to 2,367 till today, the bulletin said.
Meanwhile, a government release said a central team comprising three experts from Delhi--Dipak Bhattacharya (Safdarganj Hospital), Lalit Dar (AIIMS) and Sanket Kulkarni (NCDC)--has suggested that the word 'swine flu' be replaced with 'seasonal flu' in medical courses.

Citing the observation of the World Health Organisation (WHO), the experts suggested that swine flu be called seasonal flu to remove fear and panic from the minds of the public, it said.
The central team has been camping in Gujarat for the last three days to take stock of the situation. It is also reviewing the state government's preparedness to deal with the swine flu outbreak.