Health department awaiting report on swine flu deaths: Officer

The health department in Dakshina Kannada district Wednesday said it was awaiting a report from the death audit committee to confirm whether the death of four people in 16 days was due to swine flu (H1N1) or viral fever.

Addressing reporters here, the district health officer M Ramakrishna Rao said the audit committee would study the case history of patients and file the report soon.

Twenty-one suspected cases of H1N1 were reported from January to October, of which three people tested positive for swine flu between January and August, he said.

In September, 12 suspected cases were reported and 14 in October, he said.

Timely treatment saved the life of a patient with H1N1, the symptoms of which are high fever, sore throat, cough, diarrhoea and vomiting, he added.