New Delhi: The Union health ministry on Friday, March 10, confirmed two deaths due to the H3N2 subtype of seasonal influenza – one each in Karnataka and Haryana. Media reports from Karnataka suggest that the one who died was 82-year-old and had comorbidities. The person who died in Haryana was a 52-year-old and was suffering from liver cancer.
So far, 3,038 cases of this type have been reported in India, data from the Integrated Disease Surveillance Project suggests. This includes 1,245 cases in January, 1,307 in February and 486 in March. However, it is worth noting that H3N2 has been reported in previous years also and this is not a novel outbreak. The disease is largely self-limiting, i.e., a patient will recover with or without taking any disease-specific medicine with treatment prescribed merely for symptoms. But those who are immunocompromised (the immune system’s defences are low) or are elderly and/or have comorbidities may experience complications.
The health ministry’s statement said other than H3N2, another subtype of influenza – H1N1 – has also been in circulation in India. As many as 955 H1N1 cases were reported till February. A majority of the H1N1 cases were reported from Tamil Nadu (545), Maharashtra (170), Gujarat (74), Kerala (42) and Punjab (28). Both these subtypes have been identified in India for many years now.
H3N2 has been the dominant subtype followed by H1N1. Both these subtypes belong to Influenza ‘A’ type. Cases of influenza ‘B’ type virus (of the Victoria lineage) have also been confirmed in the past nine weeks of this year in the country. These two types of influenza viruses have been known to cause outbreaks, unlike Influenza ‘C’ and Influenza ‘D’.
The health ministry’s statement said the rise in influenza cases in India is not an isolated phenomenon and the “cases are seen to increase during certain months globally.” Talking about the virus’s seasonality, the ministry said there are two peak seasons: from January to March; and after the monsoon season. “The cases arising from seasonal influenza are expected to decline from March-end,” it said.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had said earlier that H3N2 appears to cause more hospitalisations than other influenza subtypes. Of all hospitalised cases, 6% had clinical signs of pneumonia and 6% had seizures. Out of all those hospitalised, 7% went on to develop severe disease, requiring ICU care and 10% needed supplemental oxygen.
Since antibiotics do not figure in the treatment protocol for any virus, they are not used to treat flu caused by influenza. If the patient develops a secondary bacterial infection, doctors prescribe antibiotics. The ICMR has advised people to wear masks in crowded places because the route of transmission is respiratory. For body aches and fever, paracetamol is prescribed.