Pune, July 25 - Maharashtra's information technology capital Pune has earned a dubious distinction. It has recorded the highest number of swine flu cases in the state, with schoolchildren forming a majority of the victims, an official said.

Of the 54 positive cases of H1N1 detected in the state till Saturday, 35 are from Pune, 15 from Mumbai, three in Thane and one in Nashik, said state Swine Flu Control Room head Pradeep Awate.

'Three schools in Pune where students were affected by the H1N1 virus have been shut by the authorities for a week to ensure that the disease does not spread among more children,' Awate told IANS here.

The schools are: Abhinav English Medium School (23 students affected), Symbiosis Primary and High School (2) and Seva Sadan High School (1), he said.

The number of victims in Pune suddenly shot up last fortnight when a team of students returned home after a trip to Indiana, US, he said.

'One of the students who returned had contracted the disease there and he passed it on to a cousin who is a student of Abhinav School,' Awate said.