BAREILLY: With seven patients testing positive for H1N1 virus in the last 24 hours, the number of cases of swine flu since January touched 22 in Bareilly district on Saturday.Of the seven new cases which were reported, one of the patients is a doctor at a private medical college. Three children and a 70-year-old man also tested positive for the virus.Pregnant women, elderly and children below eight years of age are considered among “high risk group”.According to health department data accessed by TOI, of the total 22 cases, 20 of the infected patients were found to be living in the city. Only two have been reported from rural areas of Bareilly district — Aonla and Faridpur.In the morning, the health department collected four more throat swab samples of suspected cases. The samples have been sent to a laboratory in Lucknow for testing.The health department has also come across three more swine flu patients who are undergoing treatment in city hospitals. However, all these three people are natives of Haldwani, Badaun and Pilibhit, respectively. Officials have notified the districts concerned. However, their count has not been included in the number of cases in Bareilly.Quoting doctors, officials termed as “critical”, the condition of a woman from Haldwani in Uttarakhand who is undergoing treatment at a private medical college hospital here.According to health department data, in UP, 572 persons have tested positive for swine flu between January 1 and February 14. Among them, eight deaths were reported in six districts — Lucknow, Rai Bareli, Bareilly, Saharanpur, Baghpat and Kushinagar.Meerut district with a total of 201 patients till Friday, has registered the highest number of swine cases in the state.District epidemiologist Dr Meesam Abbas said, “People should adopt all precautionary measures, especially the high risk group. Residents should be extra careful in public gatherings and should avoid shaking hands. We have come across a few cases in which people got infected while attending weddings.”Abbas explained that the H1N1 virus is an air-borne contagious disease and spreads when an person so much as sneezes and sprays the infected droplets around. The infected droplets land on nearby objects like table or mobile phones and when a healthy person happens to touch these objects, he can get infected.In this context, officials said people should cover their faces with a handkerchief while sneezing or coughing and should keep their hands clean by repeatedly washing with them soap. People should not reuse handkerchief or tissues. They should drink abundant water and eat healthy food.Symptoms of swine flu include fever, runny nose, sore throat, diarrhoea, lethargy, lack of appetite, coughing, nausea and vomiting.

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