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Pune A 48-year-old man and a 50-year old woman succumbed to swine flu in Pune on Wednesday afternoon, taking the toll in the deadly pandemic to 17.

Gautam Shelar, 48, a driver, was brought from KEM hospital on August 10 to Sasoon Hospital in a critical condition.

In Pune, Nita Meghani, 50, who was admitted to Sasoon Hospital in a critical condition four days ago, died on Wednesday afternoon.

With the latest flu deaths, the toll in Maharashtra due to the viral infection has risen to 13 deaths.

In Pune, the worst hit city in Maharashtra, A 33-year-old man suffering from swine flu died on Wednesday morning at a government hospital in Pune.

Balu Kuland was diagnosed with H1N1 and died at the Sassoon hospital, a senior official said.

A 38-year-old doctor Rupesh Gangurde died of the viral infection at the Nashik civil hospital on Wednesday morning, hospital sources said.

He was admitted to a private hospital on Monday after he complained of vomitting and fever, they said. His blood samples were sent to Pune for testing after which the report tested positive for H1N1.

Gangurde was brought last night to the Nashik civil hospital where he died at 0230 hours, they said.

in Pune, Shrawani Deshpande died at 2.30 AM on Wednesday morning following severe lung infection caused by the virus, attending doctors said.

Shrawani, a resident of Kothrud area, was admitted to Sasoon hospital in a critical condition on August 10 after being referred from Sashwat private hospital, they said.

So far, the flu has claimed a total of 14 lives – one each in Ahmedabad, Vadodra, Thane, Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram, two in Mumbai and seven in Pune.

As the Centre and the states intensified their battle against the infection, central teams have been despatched to all states and Union Territories after Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad chaired a meeting of 35 additional secretaries and joint secretaries drawn from various ministries who would fan out across the country.

He briefed the teams personally yesterday before they were dispatched to the state capitals.

While 14 additional secretaries would go to the big states, the joint secretaries would got to other states and Union Territories. The teams would stay there for two-three days and would return by August 15.

Azad also spoke to all Chief Ministers and told them to step up preparedness.

The health minister requested the Chief Ministers to chair the first meeting of these teams so that on-the-spot decisions are taken for swift implementation, a senior health ministry official said.

The Central teams will discuss with state governments new guidelines issued by the ministry of health and family welfare with record to capacity building issues such as identification of labs for testing and hospitals in private and public sectors for screening, diagnosis and treatment of swine flu patients.