Despite the efforts of the government to check the spread of swine flu in the state, reports of the dreaded disease claiming more and more victims are coming in regularly.
In the latest such incident, a pregnant woman succumbed to the disease at the King George Hospital in Visakhapatnam early on Wednesday, the 18th victim since June this year.
The deceased had been admitted to the hospital after she displayed symptoms of the disease some days ago, according to the doctors. She hailed from Araku valley and she was the 4th person from the district to have been a victim of the dreaded disease.
The death follows close on the heels of another pregnant woman from Hyderabad falling prey to the worldwide epidemic. Asma Begum had breathed her last at Gandhi Hospital on Tuesday.
Incidentally, 9 of the 18 victims of the disease have been pregnant women.
Among the 10 fresh cases of swine flu reported from across the state on Tuesday, 8 are women.