The influenza A (H1N1) virus, previously known as swine flu, has returned after a lull of nearly three years when the SARS-CoV-2 virus was predominant during the Covid pandemic. Currently, it is the predominant virus circulating not just in Telangana but across many parts of the country.
According to surveillance data collected by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) through its network of laboratories, which includes the central laboratory of Gandhi Hospital, influenza A (H1N1) and another subtype A (H3N2) cases have increased significantly in Telangana from December 2022 to March 2023.
Since last December, the increase in Influenza A (H1N1) cases in Telangana has also coincided with a large number of people reporting to nursing homes and clinics with symptoms of fever, sore throat, body aches and persistent cough that take at least a week to subside.
While almost all of these people tested negative for Covid-19, they still had morbidity/ sickness, particularly a fever and a persistent cough that lasted more than a week.
The influenza A subtype (H3N2) was also a dominant viral strain circulating in the community, according to ICMR surveillance data. The surveillance said that approximately half of the patients in outpatient and inpatients between December, 2022 and March, 2023, had influenza due to A (H3N2) subtype.
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Almost all of these patients had gone to outpatient clinics, nursing homes, and government hospitals with fever, cough, and even pneumonia symptoms. “From our experience in the past during pandemic, even Covid-19 was self-limiting and there was no specific treatment modality. Almost all the viral diseases are self-limiting and they recover on their own,” says Superintendent, Gandhi Hospital, Dr M Raja Rao.
Prior to the Covid pandemic, epidemiological studies, expert observations, and secondary data analysis of influenza A (H1N1) positive cases had clearly indicated that people in Hyderabad and districts should be cautious of influenza outbreaks twice a year, once in December-February and again in July and August.
Key notes:
- ICMR surveillance data indicate a rise in influenza infections
- Cases of Influenza A (H1N1) and (H3N2) rise since December 15
- Persistent cough, fever, body aches, symptoms of pneumonia like chest pain etc
- Almost all such cases were self-limiting and patients recovered
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