Swine flu has claimed its 18th victim in West Bengal since January even as ten more persons tested positive for the H1N1 virus in the last 24 hours, a senior official of the Health department said today.
"A male patient aged above 60 years, who was admitted at a private hospital yesterday with swine flu died, last evening. His condition was critical when he was taken to the hospital and was immediately put on ventilation though nothing much improved," West Bengal Principal Secretary (Health and Family Welfare) Moloy Dey told PTI.
In the last 24 hours, five persons from the city and another five from the surrounding suburbs tested positive for the disease, taking the total number of infected with the virus to 274, he said, adding that five "critical" patients were put on ventilator.
Meanwhile, 15 patients were discharged from different hospitals in the state after they completely recovered from the disease, Dey added.
