Swine flu today claimed the life of an elderly person, taking the death toll across West Bengal to 20 since January, a senior official of the Health Department said today.
"A patient in his mid-60s died at a private hospital in Howrah late last night. He was suffering from swine flu and was on ventilation for quite sometime. His condition never improved and unfortunately he succumbed to the disease," West Bengal Principal Secretary (Health and Family Welfare), Moloy Dey told PTI.
Meanwhile, seven persons tested positive for the H1N1 virus infection in the last 24 hours taking the total number of people affected across the state to 311, he said.
"Twenty-five samples were tested for swine flu in the last 24 hours out of which seven turned out to be positive for the disease," Dey said.
Out of the seven patients, four were from the city, two were from suburbs while one was a UP resident, he said, adding that six patients were released from different hospitals in the same period.
Since January, so far, 209 people have been discharged from hospitals after their complete recovery from swine flu, he said.
Currently, 82 people, including 11 under-five-year-old, were being treated for swine flu in different hospitals in the state, Dey said.
