At least 207 new cases of swine flu were reported yesterday from various parts of India. Health officials now put the total number of confirmed H1N1 cases in the country at 25,779.

Delhi topped the list of cities for new infections, with 100 of the 207 cases confirmed. Only a few days ago it had seemed as if the frequency of infections in the capital was dropping.

Maharashtra came next in the list of states recording the highest number of cases with 23 new infections, followed by Gujarat with 20 infections. Further, 19 new infections were recorded in Uttar Pradesh, 15 in Haryana, 8 in Rajasthan, 5 in Jammu and Kashmir, 4 each in Uttarakhand and Kerala, 3 in Tamil Nadu, 2 each in Puducherry and Chhattisgarh, and 1 each in West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh.

India also saw 4 more deaths due to swine flu yesterday. Along with the 17 earlier deaths that were confirmed in various parts of the country, the overall death toll rose to 919. The deaths were recorded in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Delhi.

In a significant breakthrough that can help prevent hypertension, a new study has found that a protein aids nerve sensors in blood vessels to keep blood pressure (BP) under control.

Without the protein channel, known as ASIC2, the sensors are unable to send the brain the signals it needs to properly control BP.

The finding, based on animal models, is important because it could be used to create new treatments to prevent high BP or hypertension.

"Sensors in your body's blood vessels sense when your blood pressure goes up, for instance, when you get mad at someone," said principal study investigator Frank Abboud, professor of internal medicine and biophysics, University of Iowa.

"These built-in sensors perceive the change and trigger a nearly instantaneous adjustment by sending signals to the brain, which in turn tells theblood vessels how to adjust," he said, according to a university statement.

"By knowing more about what makes these sensors - known as baroreceptors - malfunction, we may be able to find ways to make them work properly and prevent high blood pressure," added Abboud.

The study appeared in Neuron.

The death toll due to influenza A (H1N1) in India has jumped to 878, with as many as 34 more deaths being reported from different parts of the country, an official statement said here today.

Seven of the deaths -- four in Maharashtra, two in Gujarat and one in Delhi -- were reported during the day, while information on as many as 27 others deaths that occurred earlier have now been conveyed by the authorities of the states concerned to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

According to the statement, these included 20 deaths in Gujarat, 4 in Punjab, 2 in Rajasthan and 1 in Madhya Pradesh.

Of the total swine flu deaths in the country so far, Maharashtra now accounts for 256, while 132 lives have been lost in Rajasthan, 131 in Karnataka, 86 in Gujarat, 67 in Delhi, 52 in Andhra Pradesh, 31 each in Kerala and Haryana, 29 in Punjab, 10 in Uttarakhand, 9 in Uttar Pradesh, 8 in Madhya Pradesh, 7 in Tamil Nadu, 6 in Puducherry, 5 each in Chandigarh, Goa and Himachal Pradesh, 3 in Orissa, 2 each in Jammu & Kashmir and Chhattisgarh and 1 in Mizoram.

The statement said 180 new cases of swine flu were reported from different parts of India today, including 77 in Delhi, 36 in Rajasthan, 22 in Gujarat, 14 in Maharashtra, 13 in Karnataka, 7 in Uttar Pradesh, 4 each in Kerala and Haryana, 2 in Madhya Pradesh and 1 in Tamil Nadu.

With these, the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases of the virus reported in the country so far has gone up to 25,112, the statement added.

HIV/AIDS screenings on job applicants and existing employees may be banned under a proposed policy that says the infection should in no way affect employment.

The National Policy on HIV/AIDS and Work Place, crafted by the Union labour ministry with the International Labour Organisation's assistance, will form part of the HIV bill being drawn up by the health ministry. The bill seeks to make employers liable for discrimination against staff with such diseases.

The labour ministry wants its proposals to cover all employers and workers, including applicants, across public and private sectors and the self-employed. All types of workplaces, contracts and all aspects of work, formal or informal, could be covered.

"There is no justification for asking job applicants or workers to disclose HIV-related personal information. Nor should workers be obliged to reveal personal information about fellow workers. Personal data covered by medical confidentiality should be stored only by personnel (who are) bound by rules on medical secrecy and should be maintained apart from other personal data," the policy says.

A labour ministry official said the guidelines were intended to manage the impact of the epidemic in the sphere of work. "The threat of HIV to the Indian working population is evident from the fact that nearly 90 per cent of the reported infections are from the most productive age group of 15 to 49," the official added.

According to the National AIDS Control Organisation (Naco), an estimated 2.31 million people in India were living with HIV/AIDS in 2007. Of this, 88.7 per cent were between 15 and 49 years, 7.5 per cent were aged 50 and above and 3.5 per cent were below 15. Around 0.34 per cent of the population has HIV/AIDS, Naco says, adding women account for 39 per cent of the cases.

"Stigma and discrimination at workplace gets reflected in loss of emplo yment and livelihood opportunities in addition to ostracism and seclusion faced by workers from known or presumed HIV status. It should never happen," says the policy, now being circulated among ministries.

HIV infection can't be a cause for termination of employment and those with HIV-related illnesses should be able to work for as long as they are medically fit in appropriate conditions, it says, adding that the treatment cost should form part of medical/welfare packages.

The policy seeks to address another problem area: exclusion of people with HIV from insurance schemes offered by public and private companies. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) should develop all-inclusive health insurance plans for such people, it says.

All workplaces - organisation, institution, businesses, company and others - should have an HIV/AIDS committee to coordinate and implement internal programmes for the infected. Multinationals can set up such HIV/AIDS panels too.

The labour ministry official said corporate houses were consulted and claimed several companies, including PepsiCo, Hindustan Unilever, Apollo Tyres and Crompton Greaves, had agreed with the guidelines in principle.

To monitor the policy's implementation, the government plans to set up a steering committee on HIV/AIDS. It will comprise employers and worker organisations.

The HIV bill, of which the policy will form a large part, will aim to make employers liable for any discrimination against staff with HIV/AIDS and make them responsible for guaranteeing such employees a safe working environment.

A new study suggests that women using injectable birth control are at a higher risk of suffering bone mineral density (BMD) loss, a major cause for fractures and disability.

In an effort to determine whether use of depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA), injectable birth control, is associated with bone density deficit, American researchers followed 95 users of the "birth control shot" for two years.

During that period, 45 women had at least 5 percent bone mineral density loss in the lower back or hip, while 50 women exhibited less than 5 percent bone loss at the same places.

Senior author of the study Abbey Berenson, MD, Department of Obstetrics And Gynecology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas stated, "Based on these findings, clinicians have the information they need to recommend basic behavior changes for high risk women to minimize BMD loss."

Risk of bone loss higher in some cases:
The researchers noted that women who smoked, those who had never given birth, and whose dietary intake of calcium was lower than the recommended dosage of 600 mg were at a greater risk of bone loss by taking the injection for birth control.

In addition, they found that BMD was more pronounced in women with all the above three factors.

They also observed that factors like age, race or ethnicity, previous contraceptive use, and body mass index [a number, derived by using height and weight measurements, that gives a general indication of whether or not weight falls within a healthy range.] was not related to higher BMD loss.

"Bone mineral density loss is not a significant concern for all women who choose DMPA," said Berenson.

The investigators then tracked 27 women for another year. They found that all those who experienced significant bone density deficit in the first two years continued to lose bone mass, especially at the hip and lower spine.

"These losses, especially among women using DMPA for many years, are likely to take an extended period of time to reverse," said first author Mahburbur Rahman, Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Women's Health, Galveston, Texas.

DMPA a popular form of contraception:
DMPA is a carefree and relatively inexpensive form of contraceptive used by over two million women and teenagers.

The birth control shots are administered once every three months, and because of its high success rate in preventing pregnancy, this long-acting contraceptive is a popular option as opposed to other forms of birth control.

The researchers advise that women using DMPA should consult their physicians about reducing the risk factors for bone deficit. In addition, they propose that they should increase their calcium intake and stop smoking.

The study is published in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology.