Ahmedabad, Aug 5 (IANS): Along with corona cases, incidents of swine flu are also increasing in Gujarat. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has reported 30 cases of swine flu in the last one month with the highest number of cases in the city in July. One patient has died due to swine flu in Sola Civil Hospital here.

Cases of water borne and mosquito borne diseases have also increased in Ahmedabad. In July, 98 cases of simple malaria and 2 cases of toxic malaria, 43 cases of dengue and 12 cases of chikungunya, 916 cases of diarrhoea and vomiting, 245 cases of jaundice and 258 cases of typhoid were reported.

The AMC has increased the daily sample collection due to the increasing cases of corona. At present about 2500 samples are being taken in a day. Out of 2500, 9 percent of the cases are positive, while the highest number of typhoid and jaundice cases have been observed in Vatwa, Lambha and Saraspur areas.

In the last four days, 3 swine flu patients have been admitted to the civil hospital in Ahmedabad. While cases of swine flu are increasing, private labs are charging Rs 4500 to Rs 5,000 for a test.

The cost of a swine flu test in a private lab was Rs 7,000 in 2017 and the lab managers claim that it has come down now. Currently, the cost of a swine flu test in various private labs in Ahmedabad is between Rs 3,800 and Rs 5,000. Swine flu test costs are high due to the very expensive test kits and the very low number of tests against it. Apart from this, the swine flu test alone is not enough, and a positive control run has to be done. If the government reduces the price of the kit the price of the test can be reduced.

So far 3 patients have died due to swine flu in Surat city. Currently the number of swine flu cases is more than 37.