A seven-year-old in Vadodara in Gujarat and a 63-year-old woman in Maharashtra died of the swine flu virus on Tuesday afternoon. 



Warsiya Saeeda from Thane in Maharashtra became the ninth swine flu victim on Tuesday. The 63-year-old woman was admitted in Noor Hospital in Byculla. 



Shruti Gawde (13), who died at the Sassoon Hospital in Pune had become the eight victim of the deadly virus early on Tuesday.

A doctor in Nasik on Wednesday became the 14th swine flu victim in India. This is the first swine flu death recorded in Nasik in Maharashtra. 



Swine flu claimed its seventh victim in Pune with the death of a 29-year-old woman in Sassoon hospital early on Wednesday. 



Late on Tuesday, 35-year-old Sanjay Mistry, became the sixth swine flu victim in Pune. He had been in a critical condition since Monday, Sassoon hospital sources said. 



Mistry was admitted to the Sassoon hospital on August 9 after he was referred by Niramay Private Hospital in Pimpari, they said. 



A worried health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad urged the chief ministers to take urgent steps to tackle the H1N1 disease that was unknown to India till the first case was reported May 16. 



On Tuesday, a record 119 people were tested positive, with the virus spreading to cities like Jammu, Osmanabad, Nagpur, Nasik and Manipal. Of the 1,079 positive cases in India, 589 have been discharged, health ministry officials said.

 Children, mostly below 12 years of age and infected with H1N1 swine flu, can continue to infect those around them for almost three weeks after onset of symptoms. Doctors scanning and treating infected H1N1 patients in government hospitals across India have found that some children, who were infected with the deadly swine flu virus and cured after a five-day Tamiflu-regimen, continue to carry the virus in their nasal cavity. 



Interestingly, the virus potency reduces in such cases because of which the child remains asymptomatic but then becomes a carrier of the virus capable of infecting others for two more weeks. This phenomenon is also found in people with immuno-suppressive diseases like HIV, infected with H1N1. According to experts, this is usually common in cases infected with seasonal influenza viruses but has now been found to be true even with the novel H1N1 virus. 



Speaking to TOI, professor of medicine at AIIMS Dr Randeep Guleria said, “We have scientific evidence which proves than children can be long-term carriers of the H1N1 virus even after they have been completely treated of the infection. Children and HIV patients after the five-day two-times-a-day Tamiflu regimen might not show symptoms of the disease but the virus may continue to line their nasal cavity or throat.” 



Dr Guleria added, “This may be primarily because both children and HIV patients have a weak immunity system because of which complete virus eradication takes a longer period. Their body may have managed to eliminate the virus which remains in slight quantities in the nasal passages. This is why the body does not show it is infected after a Tamiflu treatment.” This finding is crucial for India where majority of the cases are in the school-going age group. 



A recent analysis of age-based infection amongst 615 positive cases in India by the health ministry had found that the worst affected was the 10-14 year group with the 5-9 years group not far behind. 



A scientists at the National Institute of Communicable Diseases told TOI, “Children mostly six years or younger can spread the virus much longer than adults. But the question is whether this is a serious problem because children after five days of Tamiflu show no symptoms. So then don’t cough or sneeze. Therefore, they can’t expose others to infection since influenza viruses spread from person to person primarily through large-particle respiratory droplet transmission.” He added, “Usually when we do find cases where children still harbour the virus after five days of treatment, we add five more days of Tamiflu.” 



So what should children once infected with H1N1 and cured do? Dr Guleria said, “They must continue basic cough hygiene like covering their mouths and sneezing for two weeks after being discharged. They must avoid contact with high risk groups

 With an aim to launch vaccine for Influenza H1N1 A Virus (swine flu) in India, Cadila Pharmaceutical will seek the government's nod in two days for initiating clinical trials in this regard. 



Cadila Pharmaceutical Ltd (CPL) had set up a joint venture 'CPL Biologicals Pvt Ltd' with the US-based vaccine maker Novavax for manufacturing and developing a host of vaccines, including for swine flu, in India. 



"The joint venture is going to file the application with the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) in the next two days for phase-I clinical trials for swine flu vaccine," CPL Chairman and Managing Director I A Modi said. 



Modi expressed confidence that Cadila would be the first Indian pharma company to launch the swine flu vaccine in India by December. 



"If we get the permission of DCGI soon, then with the advanced technology available from our partner, (we) would be able to launch it in India by December this year," Modi said. 



With its existing facility, Cipla can produce up to one million doses of the vaccine per month, which can be scaled up to two million doses, Modi said. 



"Novavax has already received permission for clinical trials from the US Federal Drug Administration and if we get it soon, we can simultaneously start the trials," he added. 



The government has already indicated that swine flu related applications it would clear on a fast track basis and the company is hopeful of getting instant approval for it, Modi added. 



He said to protect from swine flu pandemic, two dosages of the vaccine are required over two weeks. 



The JV has already started building a facility with an estimated investment of Rs 100 crore. In the joint venture Cadila has 80 per cent stake and the remaining 20 per cent is held by Novavax. 



Besides this, Cadila Pharma also holds 5.75 per cent stake in Novavax Inc US and has a position on the board of directors of the US-based company. 

 A Maharashtra schoolboy succumbed to swine flu just hours after three others in the state died of the same disease on Wednesday morning, officials said. With these deaths, the toll due to the viral infection has risen to 11 in the state and 15 in the country. 



Babu Genu Kuland died in the Sassoon Hospital here at about 11am. The resident of Pimpri town, near Pune, was hospitalised three days ago in serious condition, according to Pune Minicipal Corporation (health department) chief SR Pardeshi. 



Another Pimpri resident, Sanjay Mistry, 35, died in Sassoon Hospital early on Wednesday. He was hospitalised Sunday in a critical condition and put on a ventilator, according to an official of the state swine flu control room. 



Barely hours after Mistry succumbed to the influenza A (H1N1) infection, Shravani Deshpande, 29, died of the same disease. 



Deshpande breathed her last around 3am. She had been hospitalised here three days ago with pneumonia and later found to be suffering from swine flu. She was then put on ventilator. 



Rakesh Gargunde, a medico in Nashik Civil Hospital, also succumbed to swine flu around 3am., said civil surgeon AD Bhal Singh. 



Gargunde was admitted to hospital in an unconscious state two days ago and put on a ventilator. The test report confirming that he had swine flu was received by the hospital late Tuesday night. 



Earlier, five people in Pune, two in Mumbai, two in Gujarat, one each in Tamil Nadu and Kerala had died of swine flu.