Pune, Aug 13 - Nine-month-old Swabhiman Kamble died of swine flu at a private hospital here, becoming the 18th victim of the viral disease in the country, an official said Thursday.

Kamble died late Wednesday at the Sahyadri Munot Hospital.

An official at the state swine flu control room told IANS that the infant had been hospitalised early this week with flu-like symptoms. In between, he had also been taken for a check up to Sassoon Hospital, which has been handling very serious cases of influenza A (H1N1) infection.

Maharashtra has had the maximum number of deaths due to swine flu - 11 in Pune, in Mumbai and one in Nashik.

One death each has been reported from Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram.