Five more swine flu deaths were reported on Friday in India, taking the toll from the H1N1 virus to 83, health officials said.

Three patients died in Karnataka and one each in Maharashtra and Kerala. In Karnataka, two deaths were reported from Bangalore and one from Bijapur.

According to Maharashtra health authorities, a 39-year-old man suffering from swine flu died at a Navi Mumbai hospital. With this, the toll from the viral disease in the state has risen to 48.

The victim, identified only as Shaikh by State Swine Flu Control Room head Pradip Awate, was admitted to D Y Hospital in Navi Mumbai a few days ago in a serious condition and died late Thursday.

He was Mumbai’s 10th swine flu victim, Awate said.

In addition, there have been 25 deaths in Pune, seven in Nashik, two in Latur and one each in Aurangabad, Beed, Jalna and Dhule.

According to officials, Maharashtra has recorded the highest number of deaths and H1N1 cases in the country. A staggering 1,519 cases have been reported from the state.

So far, 22 of the 34 districts in the state are swine flu-affected, the worst hit among them being Pune, Mumbai and Nashik.

Karnataka has reported the second highest deaths after Maharashtra at 23.

The swine flu scare led to the closure of the Bangalore-based National Law School of India University (NLSIU) Friday for 10 days. The decision follows several educational institutions closing down for a few days.

“The decision was taken as a precautionary measure. The university decided to close for 10 days, so that the entire campus can be fumigated. The fumigation process has already started,” NLSIU Vice Chancellor R Venkata Rao said.

The university decided to close in the wake of a swine flu death in its neighbourhood Nagarabhavi here last week. The university will reopen August 30.

However, no university student has tested positive for the virus during their screening recently at the Mallige Hospital.

“We don’t want to take any chances. When the university reopens, students will be asked to bring their medical certificate. We may further screen the students,” said Rao.

A 44-year-old woman died of swine flu in Kerala, taking the death toll in the state to two.

Nodal officer Amar S. Fettle told IANS that the patient was being treated at a hospital and died Thursday at Kochi.

“The test results of the woman came from Manipal only Friday evening and she tested positive for the H1N1 virus. She was a patient at a hospital since Aug 24 and was under treatment,” he said.

Meanwhile, 139 fresh swine flu cases were reported in the country Friday, taking the total number of those affected with the virus to 3,534.

The highest number of fresh cases were reported from Delhi, where 24 people were tested positive for the flu, followed by Kerala as 23 people were affected with the the virus.

The other cases were reported from Maharashtra (20), Karnataka (19), Tamil Nadu (19) Andhra Pradesh (12), Haryana (5), Chandigarh (1), west Bengal (6), Uttar Pradesh (6)and Rajasthan (4).

“So far, 19,789 people were tested of which 3,534 were found positive,” the health ministry said.

Of the 139 cases, only five are imported and the rest are indigenous.

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