Influenza virus cases in india

Bhubaneswar: Of the 225 samples collected in January and February in Odisha, 59 were found positive for H3N2 influenza in the state, officials said on Saturday. H3N2 is a non-human influenza virus that normally circulates in pigs and has infected humans, according to the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. "Out of the 225 samples collected in the month of January and February in Odisha, a total of 59 H3N2 influenza cases were found in the state," Regional Medical Research Centre, Bhubaneswar Director Sanghamitra Pati told PTI. Symptoms are similar to those of seasonal flu viruses and can include fever and cough, she said. Currently, there is "no definitive treatment available" for the virus and hence, people should "strictly follow the Covid guidelines to keep H3N2 at bay," Odisha Public Health Director Niranjan Mishra told reporters here. There is a need for increased monitoring and precautionary measures to ward off H3N2 but no cause for panic yet, say experts as H3N2 Virus Outbreak: Over 450 Cases Reported In India In Karnataka, 82-year-old Hire Gowda, a diabetic who suffered from hypertension, died due to the seasonal influenza subtype on March 1. Another death, that of a 56-year-old lung cancer patient, was reported from Haryana. From January 2 to March 5, 451 cases of the H3N2 have been reported in the country, according to data shared by the union health ministry on Friday. What Is H3N2 Influenza A Virus And Its Symptoms? H3N2 is a non-human influenza viru...

Gurugram: While data from the union health ministry shows 3,038 laboratory-confirmed cases of various sub-types of influenza being reported from across India till 9 March, including the subtype H3N2 which has reportedly killed One of the two reported H3N2 mortalities was of a Haryana resident, a 56-year-old lung cancer patient who had tested positive for influenza in January. The other death was reported from Karnataka. Residents and doctors in the region claim cases of flu have gone up in the past few days. These include not just H3N2 infections, but cases caused by other influenza viruses too, confirmed Dr. Dhruv Chaudhary, head of the Pulmonary Medicine Department of Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS), Rohtak. Chaudhary added: “These viruses are not new. Even before Covid-19 came, these influenza viruses used to come every year around this time of the year, but this time they appear to have come with a vengeance.” He further said that these viruses cause morbidity and mortality every year not only in India, but also in Europe, the US, Canada, and the UK. The intense panic in Haryana and Delhi-NCR, following the 56-year-old’s death, is perhaps a result of memories of mortalities caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, which have been refreshed by the symptoms of prolonged fever, coughing and breathing trouble, visible in many influenza patients since January. While some doctors feel influenza has now become an epidemic, with freq...

In Haryana’s Jind, a 56-year-old man, who was a cancer patient died on March 8. He had tested positive for the H3N2 virus in January at PGIMS hospital in Rohtak, officials said. 82-year-old Eregowda from Hassan district in Karnataka succumbed to the H3N2 Influenza virus on March 6. Karnataka Health Commissioner D Randeep confirmed Eregowda's death. WATCH: The District Health Officer (Hassan) said that Eregowda was admitted to the hospital on February 24 at the Hassan Institute of Medical Sciences and passed away six days later. He was brought to the hospital with Influenza-like symptoms and had comorbidities like hypertension and diabetes. The health officers have surveyed all the primary and secondary contacts of the deceased Karnataka man to ensure all positive cases are identified. However, so far everybody including his wife has tested negative for the virus. They plan to continue surveillance in the area for the next 14 days. ALSO READ | Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar also held a meeting with the state Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) earlier this week and released guidelines stating necessary precautions to be followed for avoiding the infection. Sudhakar said the infection clears up within 2-5 days. “People who suffered from Covid-19 earlier seem to have a more intense cough after being infected with H3N2. More cases of infection are being seen in children below 15 years and those above 65 years. Pregnant women are also more likely to get infected." He said that th...

N ew Delhi: Eighteen months of masking, social distancing and hand hygiene amid the Covid pandemic may have come with some unforeseen collateral benefits — seasonal influenza (H1N1) cases dropping to a minimum this year. While H1N1 numbers do tend to fluctuate year-on-year based on the infectiousness of the virus in circulation, the tally till 31 July this year is 65, with no deaths. In 2020, the total number was 2,752 with 44 deaths, and 28,798 cases and 1,218 deaths in 2019, the last pre-Covid pandemic year. While doctors point to a possible decrease in testing (hence low number of cases) owing to the overwhelming focus on Covid, a downward slide has been a global trend since the pandemic hit. As it happens, Covid and influenza have similar symptoms — fever, sore throat and body ache among others. “… flu cases and deaths in the US and worldwide dropped to unprecedented lows, and influenza remained scarce this summer for the second consecutive flu season in the Southern Hemisphere. Between October 3, 2020, and July 24, 2021, of the 1.3 million specimens tested by clinical laboratories and reported to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2136 were positive for influenza virus, and 748 deaths were coded as influenza, according to CDC data provided to JAMA,” read a The World Health Organization (WHO) had declared the end of the global influenza pandemic in 2010 but predicted that the virus will circulate for some years to come as seasonal influenza....

An analysis shows that Maharashtra has reported the highest number of cases (33,284) and deaths (3,637) since pandemic influenza struck in 2009 In April 2009, the first case of influenza A H1N1 was reported in Mexico. Later the infection spread and a total of 214 countries were affected by the pandemic worldwide. Ten years since, influenza H1N1 has become a seasonal virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta. Yet, in India, the past decade saw as many as 1.58 lakh persons being infected by the virus and over 10,000 succumbing to it. Maharashtra toll highest According to Dr Pradeep Awate, Maharashtra’s surveillance officer, the surveillance systems and diagnostic capacities in the state are strong, which led to the reporting of the maximum number of cases and deaths. Awareness levels were high especially regarding home-based isolation of persons with the flu. In other states, surveillance may not be as good, experts have pointed out. Virus in circulation, evolving Unlike the temperate countries, where peak influenza activity is recorded in winters, in the tropical and sub-tropical countries, the primary peak of influenza activity is during the monsoon. However, in some places, influenza also peaks during winters and in some tropical countries, influenza sustains throughout the year. According to experts at NIV Pune, scientists have tested over 65,000 patients’ samples in the past 10 years. If testing is stopped, it would seem there is no disease. B...

India records first two H3N2 flu deaths in Haryana, Karnataka The Union health ministry on Friday advised states to be on alert after two H3N2 deaths were reported from Haryana and Karnataka. There are four types of influenza viruses: A, B, C, and D. Influenza A and B viruses cause seasonal epidemics of disease in people almost every year in January to March Cases of H3N2 subtype of seasonal influenza being strictly monitored: Centre The Centre on Friday said that it is keeping a close watch on the H3N2 subtype of seasonal influenza after an 87-year-old man from Karnataka became India’s first victim of the virus. The Union health ministry in a statement said that it is monitoring the situation in various States/UTs through the It added that the IDSP-IHIP (integrated health information platform) data from health facilities indicates that during the month of January, 3.97 lakh cases of acute respiratory illness/influenza (ARI/ILI)-like illness were reported from the country that increased to 4.36 lakh during February. “In the first nine days of March, 1.33 lakh ARI/ILI cases were reported,” said an official. “All patients with febrile illness aren’t getting tested. There is no need to. However, it is true that there is a mix of viral infections doing the rounds and that has led to a surge in ARI/ILI cases. The rate of complications or hospitalisation needed is high, especially among the elderly and people with pre-existing co-morbidities,” said Dr Rommel Tickoo, director, in...