Swine flu toll reaches 23 in Punjab, Haryana

Chandigarh: Swine flu has claimed 23 lives in Punjab and Haryana this winter, officials said here Monday.

Punjab's nodal officer Dr Deepak Bhatia said that the H1N1 virus has claimed 12 lives till date in the state.

He said that 34 confirmed cases of swine flu are under treatment at different hospitals in the state.

The number of suspected cases of swine flu is 84 in the state, he added.

In neighbouring Haryana, 11 persons have succumbed to swine flu so far.

"Eleven people have died due to swine flu in the state this winter season," Haryana Additional Chief Secretary Health Ram Niwas told PTI here.

He said that at present there are 81 confirmed cases of swine flu in the state.

"These patients are being treated at hospitals," he said, adding, "most of the patients are coming to hospitals at a later stage of the disease."

However, officials of both Punjab and Haryana said that the situation is "under control" and hospitals are well equipped to take care of patients and there was no need to panic.