Swine flu has been dubbed a geek illness in India and its spread is apparently all because of the movements of IT professionals.

The H1N1 virus which has killed 53  in Karnataka, is being blamed on the movements of travelling IT professionals particularly in Bangalore. Karnataka Principal Health Secretary I.R. Perumal told the Times of India that  IT people travel a lot and during the initial days they hardly took any precautions.

The health secretary said even companies like Infosys had failed to do their duty in helping people take precaution against the disease, which has affected nearly 700 people in the state.

"They have become conscious, but initially none of these IT guys, even Infosys, took the required precaution. I have information that now they have started conducting regular health checkups of employees," he added.

The health secretary has asked all hospitals and IT firms to report to swine flu screening centres if any of their employees was suffering from pneumonia or swine flu symptoms.