India : Rural areas witness more deaths

Via Times of India :

" PUNE: More than half of the H1N1 deaths reported in the state this year have been from rural areas. Of the 311 people who succumbed to the swine flu infection in Maharashtra since April this year, 162 were from the rural areas. Fresh cases of swine flu are being largely reported from rural areas which were left unscathed last year, say experts. "Viruses always find newer areas to get entrenched in. Last year, cities bore the brunt.

This time around, it is mainly the rural areas," said Arun Jamkar, dean of the Sassoon general hospital. "In June, the mortality rate vis-?-vis the number of severely positive cases had gone down. However, with the rise in critically ill patients in July and August, more casualties were reported from rural parts of the state," said a health official."