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Will H1N1 explore in India?
The
world could see an explosion of H1N1 swine flu cases in the next few months,
the WHO has said. Warning that the virus was likely to spread at a faster pace,
thanks to favourable climatic conditions in some parts of the world including
India, WHO on Friday said most countries would see swine flu cases "double
every three to four days for several months until a peak transmission period is
reached".
According to the global health body, the influenza virus could endanger more lives with the way it is spreading. Countries therefore have been urged to prepare for a likely second wave of the H1N1 pandemic, expected to strike anytime during the upcoming winter months.
Responding to the warning, the health ministry said it had already started seeing a steep rise in the number of new H1N1 infections. According to data presented at the state health ministers' conference in Delhi on Friday, India saw an average 150 new cases of H1N1 every day over the past week. While the minimum cases in one single day has been 90, the country recorded a maximum of 220 positive H1N1 cases in a single day.
Around 81% of all cases of H1N1 till now are from eight cities — Pune (28%), Delhi (16%), Mumbai (17%), Bangalore (7%), Hyderabad (4%), Chennai (5%), Gurgaon (2%) and Ahmedabad (2%). Health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said India was now reporting indigenous cases with no travel history abroad. "This is all the more reason for us to gear up for a large scale pandemic in the country," he said.
According to the WHO, till now, there have been more than 1.82 lakh laboratory confirmed cases of H1N1 infection and 1,799 deaths in 177 countries. As most countries have stopped counting individual cases, particularly of milder illness, the case number is significantly lower than the actual number of cases that have occurred. "Areas of tropical Asia are reporting increasing rates of illness as they enter their monsoon season, as represented by India, Thailand, Malaysia and Hong Kong," WHO said.
According to the global health body, the influenza virus could endanger more lives with the way it is spreading. Countries therefore have been urged to prepare for a likely second wave of the H1N1 pandemic, expected to strike anytime during the upcoming winter months.
Responding to the warning, the health ministry said it had already started seeing a steep rise in the number of new H1N1 infections. According to data presented at the state health ministers' conference in Delhi on Friday, India saw an average 150 new cases of H1N1 every day over the past week. While the minimum cases in one single day has been 90, the country recorded a maximum of 220 positive H1N1 cases in a single day.
Around 81% of all cases of H1N1 till now are from eight cities — Pune (28%), Delhi (16%), Mumbai (17%), Bangalore (7%), Hyderabad (4%), Chennai (5%), Gurgaon (2%) and Ahmedabad (2%). Health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said India was now reporting indigenous cases with no travel history abroad. "This is all the more reason for us to gear up for a large scale pandemic in the country," he said.
According to the WHO, till now, there have been more than 1.82 lakh laboratory confirmed cases of H1N1 infection and 1,799 deaths in 177 countries. As most countries have stopped counting individual cases, particularly of milder illness, the case number is significantly lower than the actual number of cases that have occurred. "Areas of tropical Asia are reporting increasing rates of illness as they enter their monsoon season, as represented by India, Thailand, Malaysia and Hong Kong," WHO said.
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