H1N1 claims one death in Gujarat: State health minister

Amid a sharp surge in H3N2 virus cases in the country the Gujarat health minister Rushikesh Patel on Saturday said that the state has reported one death due to H1N1 adding that no death has been reported due to H3N2 till March 10 in the stateThere are three H3N2 cases in the state till March 10 There has been one death in the state till now which is due to H1N1 Patel said while addressing a press conference here on the situation of seasonal influenza in the stateHe further said that 77 cases of H1N1 have been reported so far in GujaratThere is no need to panic as the government is working round the clock to ensure peoples safety We are monitoring it he addedAccording to the Union Health Ministry Karnataka and Haryana have confirmed one death each from H3N2 influenza so farH3N2 has been the dominant subtype followed by H1N1 Both these subtypes belong to Influenza A typeHowever the Union Ministry of Health on Friday said that the cases arising from seasonal influenza including H3N2 which has claimed one death each in Haryana and Karnataka are expected to decline from March endIndia every year witnesses two peaks of seasonal influenza one from January to March and the other in the postmonsoon season The cases arising from seasonal influenza are expected to decline from March end the Union Health Ministry said in a press releaseAlso readMumbai Man minor girl die by jumping off hilltop after families opposed their marriageSeasonal influenza is an acute respiratory infection caused by influenza viruses that circulate in all parts of the world and the cases are seen to increase during certain months globallyIt further said that realtime surveillance of cases of Influenzalike Illness ILI and Severe Acute Respiratory Infections SARI presenting in OPDs and IPDs of health facilities is undertaken by Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme IDSP National Centre for Disease Control NCDCAccording to the latest data available on IDSPIHIP integrated health Information Platform a total of 3038 laboratoryconfirmed cases of various subtypes of Influenza including H3N2 have been reported till March 9 by the States This includes 1245 cases in January 1307 in February and 486 cases till March 9Further the IDSPIHIP data from health facilities indicate that during the month of January 2023 a total of 397814 cases of Acute Respiratory IllnessInfluenza Like Illness ARIILI were reported from the country which increased slightly to 436523 during February 2023 In the first 9 days of March 2023 this number stands at 133412 casesThe corresponding data for admitted cases of severe acute respiratory illness SARI is 7041 cases in January 2023 6919 during February 2023 and 1866 during the first 9 days of March 2023Till February 28 a total of 955 H1N1 cases have been reported The majority of the H1N1 cases are reported from Tamil Nadu 545 following Maharashtra 170 Gujarat 74 Kerala 42 and Punjab 28The Ministry is also tracking and keeping a close watch on morbidity and mortality due to the H3N2 subtype of seasonal influenzaYoung children and old age persons with comorbidities are the most vulnerable groups in the context of seasonal influenzaIt has also advised the state governments to vaccinate healthcare workers dealing with H1N1 casesHowever according to the ministry Oseltamivir is the drug recommended by the World Health Organization WHO for curing the infectionThe drug is made available through the Public Health System free of cost The government has allowed the sale of Oseltamivir under Schedule H1 of the Drug and Cosmetic Act in February 2017 for wider accessibility and availability it saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever