Swine Flu Still on the Map

Posted on Aug 5, 2009

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More than 500 swine flu cases have been reported in India, but only one death has been recorded.

Like a really bad joke that won’t go away, the swine flu has reared its exaggerated head, now in India, after that country reported its first death attributed to the multi-appellated disease. Hundreds of Indians rushed to get tested in the western city of Pune, even causing fights among those in line at a hospital.

Also in the news, a new vaccine believed to prevent swine flu is in a test period, and it’s believed that the vaccine will soon be available for wide public use.

The CBC:

Hundreds of anxious people, many with young children, crowded a hospital Wednesday to be tested for swine flu in a western Indian city that reported the country’s first fatality two days ago.

Panic spread in the city of Pune after a 14-year-old girl died late Monday. Large crowds gathered Wednesday outside Naidu Hospital, the city’s best-known hospital with a quarantine ward and facilities to test for the virus.

Local officials have begun testing all students who attended the same school as Rida Sheikh, the dead schoolgirl, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.

India has confirmed 574 swine flu cases, according to the Health Ministry. Of those, 470 have been released from government hospitals after recovering.

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