Over 300 swine flu cases reported in December alone

Though there were only about 600 cases of swine flu reported until November 21, 2019, the number shot up to 1,008 by December end. However, the State Health Department officials claim that the numbers in 2019 were lower compared to the rate in the past two years and attributed it to the effective steps initiated to control the spread of the flu.

Of the four swine flu deaths last year, three were children and State Health Department officials said that more than 70 per cent of the cases were kids.

Though there were four deaths reportedly due to the infection in 2019, the numbers were higher in 2018 when Tamil Nadu recorded a total of 43 deaths and at least 2,812 cases.

Swine flu outbreak was recorded in many states in 2019 with Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka registering more than 2,000 cases each. Among the south Indian states, Karnataka recorded about 2,013 cases and 96 deaths, while Telangana recorded 1,369 cases and 22 deaths. Kerala and Andhra Pradesh recorded less number of cases than Tamil Nadu and Kerala reported 844 cases and 44 deaths, while Andhra Pradesh figures showed 330 cases and 15 deaths.

When contacted, Director of Public Health Dr K Kolandaisamy said that the State has improved in tackling the swine flu in the last two years and there were fewer cases of deaths this year. “Tamil Nadu had lesser number of deaths when compared to neighbouring States as we had better control programmes in 2019,” he added.