Bhubaneswar: Swine flu has claimed two lives in the last 12 hours, taking the death toll to six in the state this season.
The deaths were reported from VIMSAR in Burla, where Jalandhar Meher of Bargarh died while undergoing treatment on Friday, and SCB Medical College and Medical College in Cuttack, where Bijay Sahu of Tirtol in Jagatsinghpur district succumbed to the H1N1 virus the previous night.
Meanwhile, swab samples of a doctor working at the Orthopaedic department of Capital Hospital in Bhubanswar and a junior doctor of SCB were found positive for the vector-borne disease.
With these two cases coming to the fore, the Public Health Department is now mulling to administer vaccine to medicos and medical staff deployed at the swine flu ward of hospitals.
On Thursday, 13 of 24 samples sent to Regional Medical Research Centre had tested positive for the avian influenza, taking the total number of those affected in the state to 84.