One more person succumbed to swine flu on Thursday, taking the total toll of H1N1 deaths in Mumbai to 24.

Health officials informed the media persons that a 25-year-old pregnant woman named Neha died at a Rajawadi Hospital on Thursday.

Neha, who was from Ghatkopar and in the ninth month of her pregnancy, was taken to a private hospital due to cold and high fever on Tuesday. Later, she was shifted to Rajawadi Hospital and put on a breathing machine (ventilator). The physicians took her throat swab on the same day and put her on a course of Tamiflu. She was declared positive for swine flu on Friday.

The reports showed that she succumbed to the deadly virus on Thursday and the BMC got her positive report on Friday.

Confirming the development, Manisha Mhaiskar, additional municipal commissioner, BMC stated, "She was nine months pregnant - one of the six high-risk category patients whose immunity is very low. Also it seems there was a delay in treatment."

Out of the total 24 swine flu fatalities the BMC is counting, over 18 have been women.

As per information amassed by the BMC's health unit, around 59% of those who tested positive for the deadly flu were men.

"Though more men have tested positive, the number of deaths has been more in women, primarily because women have a habit of trying to bear with their problems before actually doing something about them. At first, they ignore a fever thinking it is a minor flu, but the delay becomes crucial," Mhaiskar added.