The cases of swine flu have been increasing day-by-day. At present, the total number of patients with the deadly Influenza A (H1N1) or Swine Flu has risen to 74 in the country

An 8-year-old girl Shruti Ghosh, who was admitted to ID hospital on Monday, has been tested positive for the flu. It was the first confirmed swine flu case in West Bengal.

The girl, who came back to Kolkata from Australia via Bangkok, had been quarantined at the N S C B airport following flu-like symptoms such as high fever, head ache and pain in body joints.

The throat swab of the girl, which was forwarded to the National Institute of Communicable Diseases in New Delhi, tested positive for swine flu.

But, all arrangements were ready and the girl was shifted to the isolation ward, the health official said adding her condition was not alarming.

The blood samples of Shruti’s mother, which were forwarded for examination, tested negative for the flu.

Although 9 persons had been packed off to the ID hospital on arrival from Europe and East Asia at the city airport during the last 30 days, there had been no confirmed swine flu cases in past.

Other people, who tested positive for Swine Flu, included one case each was reported from Madurai, Hyderabad and Chandigarh.

In Delhi, a 40-year-old man and his 39-year-old wife, who travelled from the US transiting Germany, tested positive for the virus.