2,511 H1N1 cases, 25 deaths reported in Tamil Nadu till Oct 2022

CHENNAI: As many as 2,511 cases of AH1N1 influenza have been reported in Tamil Nadu until October this year, while 25 people died due to related causes.

While officials from the State Health Department deny a major outbreak of influenza, around 1,000 cases were reported in October itself. The numbers, however, had started to decline after a sudden surge in the cases in September.

As per the data from the Central Surveillance Unit, Integrated Diseases Surveillance Programme, National Centre for Diseases Control, the numbers of cases of influenza spiked manifold when compared to 2021, as only about 11 cases were reported last year and no fatalities. And the year before, it was 276 cases of influenza and one related death.

At least 1,038 cases of influenza were recorded in 2019.

This year, the spike has been the highest in the four years. In 2018, the number of cases were slightly high with 2,812 cases of AH1N1 and 43 related fatalities.

Experts say that the numbers declined during the pandemic because of cross-reporting of cases, increase in the practice of social distancing, wearing masks and general hygiene. However, the numbers reached close to 1,500 towards the end of September this year.

“Currently, we’re not seeing any surge in cases of AH1N1. The number of Covid cases are also considerably low with positivity just 0.3%,” Dr P Sampath, joint director, Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine. “The influenza surge is common after July. This year, there was a spike which was worrisome but it’s under control right now. The cases of fever and dengue are still challenging but no major outbreaks have been reported in the State yet.”