Telangana Government has issued an advisory in view of rising swine flu cases in the state against mass gathering for Holi. With 45 out 56 positive cases being reported on Wednesday in Hyderabad, authorities warned residents against mass gathering.

A Special officer on swine flu, Telangana, Dr G Srinivas said that in the larger interest of public health, it would be better to stay away from the gatherings particularly for the ones who are suffering from symptoms of swine flu such as body aches, cold, fever and cough.

The Institute of Preventive Medicine (IPM) in the last four days identifed 140 swine flu cases of which more than 80% has been accounted in Hyderabad. On Wednesday, the H1N1 vuirus death toll has been revised to 59 by the Telangana health department.

During the Holi celebrations, human-to-human contact is inevitable and easy for the H1N1 virus to spread pointed Dr Suneetha Nareddy, infection medicine specialist, Apollo Hospitals. Hence it would be a better option to not get into these mass gatherings to avoid getting in contact with the virus.

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