Maharashtra has the highest number of 437 deaths to H1N1 infections, followed by Gujarat at 297
India appears to be in the grip of a swine flu, where death toll rises above 1,268 in 2017, with maximum casualties around 400 being reported in ongoing August.
According to the official report released, till date total 1,268 swine flu deaths which show four times rise more as compared to 265 deaths and 1,786 cases in 2016.
As per Union Health Ministry released statistics, Maharashtra has the highest number of deaths with 437 people succumbing to H1N1 infections, followed by Gujarat at 297, Kerala at 73, and Rajasthan at 69.
Maharashtra, recorded 4,245 cases followed by Gujarat (3,029), Tamil Nadu (2,994) and Karnataka (2,956).
Surprisingly, no cases of swine flu have so far been reported from three northeastern states of Mizoram, Nagaland and Meghalaya in 2017.
The country witnessed the worst outbreak of the H1N1 influenza in the pandemic years of 2009-10 when the disease killed over 2,700 people and affected around 50,000 others.
H1N1 influenza, commonly known as swine flu, is a respiratory flu with symptoms like fever, sore throat, headache, cough, runny nose, diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting.
Like other strains of the flu, H1N1 is highly contagious, and spreads quickly from person to person. It was declared a pandemic in 2009 by the World Health Organisation.
Dr Sanjay Gururaj, medical director at Shanthi Hospital, a private clinic, told the BBC that it was not mandatory for a private hospital to report its numbers to the government’s database. “The numbers in the official report are possibly just the tip of the iceberg,” he said.
Swine flu – a respiratory disease caused by a strain of the influenza type-A virus known as H1N. Its symptoms similar to those produced by standard, seasonal flu – fever, cough, sore throat, body aches and chills.
It was first reported in humans in India and Mexico in 2009. Confusion and lack of information about the disease is believed to have suppressed the official figures of incidence and only 600 deaths were officially reported despite suspected cases popping up from across the country.
In 2010, over 20,000 cases were confirmed of which 1,763 resulted in death. Swine flu had well and truly arrived in India.
In 2015, India had its worst tangle with the disease yet as—42,592 cases were reported nationwide. Maharashtra (8,583 cases, 905 deaths), Gujarat (7,180 cases, 517 deaths), Rajasthan (6,858 cases, 472 deaths), Madhya Pradesh (2,445 cases, 367 deaths) and Karnataka (3,565 cases, 94 deaths) were the worst-hit that year.