India Confirms 1,078 Cases of Swine Flu

Six people succumbed to the H1N1 virus in India on Wednesday, including five from the same hospital in this 'epidemic' city, taking the death toll in the country to 17. The sixth death was reported from Maharashtra's Nashik town.

Photo: India Confirms 1,078 Cases of Swine Flu

The five who died in Pune were Gautam Shelar, a 48-year-old driver, Nita Meghani, 50, Babu Genu Kuland, a school student, Sanjay Mistry, 35, and Shravani Deshpande, 29, a Maharashtra Swine Flu Control Room official said, Sify reports.

Meanwhile, India has confirmed 1,078 cases of swine flu, according to the Health Ministry, including 589 people who have recovered. Television news channels reported Wednesday that the number of fatalities had risen to 15.

All schools and colleges in Mumbai, India's financial and entertainment capital, will remain closed until Aug. 19, and movie theatres until Aug. 16, according to Prajakta Lavangare, the spokeswoman for Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital.

"The government took the decision as a measure to check the further spread of the virus," Lavangare told reporters , The Canadian Press reports.

Nashik registered its first flu death when 28-year-old doctor Rupesh Gangurde died of the viral infection at the Nashik civil hospital this morning. He was admitted to a private hospital on Monday after he complained of vomiting and fever , Press Trust of India reports.