Even as some Indian pharma companies are bracing up to commence the clinical trials of H1NI vaccine, the death toll due to the killer disease has crossed the 1000 mark in India. As per the data available with the Union Health Ministry, the cumulative number of deaths confirmed by lab due to H1N1 as on January 6, 2010 stands at 1010 with Maharashtra on top of the list with 282 lab confirmed death cases.

After Maharashtra, the maximum number of people who have lost their lives due to this pandemic disease is in Rajasthan which has registered 152 cases till January 6, and is followed by its neighbour Gujarat with 134 lab confirmed death cases so far. Gujarat is closely followed by the southern state of Karnataka with 133 death cases.

Other states which were severely affected by the disease included Delhi (73 deaths), Andhra Pradesh (52) , Kerala (34), Punjab (35) and Haryana (33). The states which were registered comparatively less number of deaths included Uttar Pradesh (16), Uttarakhand (13), Madhya Pradesh (11), Chandigarh (8), Tamil Nadu (7), Himachal Pradesh (7), Puducherry (6), Goa (5), Orissa (3) Chhattisgarh (2), Jammu & Kashmir (2), Mizoram (1) and Assam (1).

However, no deaths were registered in some states like Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Andaman & Nicobar and Daman & Diu.

Meanwhile, four Indian companies are bracing themselves up to begin the fast track clinical trials of H1NI vaccine very soon. While Pune-based Serum Institute of India and Ahmedabad-based Zydus Cadila have already been given the green signal by the DCGI to start the clinical trials, the DCGI is still examining the cases of other two companies, Panacea Biotech and Bharat Biotech, to begin the clinical trials.

DCGI Dr Surinder Singh expressed confidence that these domestic companies will be able to roll out their products by April this year. He also said that the multinational companies like GSK, Baxter and Sanofi Aventis are in advanced stages of talks with the Union Health Ministry to make their products available in the country by late January or early February to counter the disease in the country.