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According to the most recent IDSP-IHIP data, states reported a total of 3,038 lab-confirmed cases of various subtypes of influenza, including H3N2 (Integrated Health Information Platform).
There were 1,245 cases in January, 1,307 cases in February, and 486 cases as of March 9.
The Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), National Centre for Disease Control, conducts real-time surveillance of cases of Influenza Like Illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Infections (SARI) presenting in health facility OPDs and IPDs (NCDC).
Aside from H3N2, two other important circulating influenza strains are Influenza A H1N1 and Influenza B Victoria.
The ICMR data, on the other hand, reports a mix of respiratory viruses ranging from the Covid-19 virus to swine flu (H1N1), H3N2, and the seasonal Victoria and Yamagata lineages of influenza B viruses, as responsible.
Meanwhile, the Covid infection has seen a four-month spike, with 524 daily Covid cases reported on Sunday.
An official stated that an integrated surveillance of influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) for the detection of human influenza virus and SARS-COV-2 virus is ongoing through a structured ILI/SARI surveillance network of 28 sites.
The surveillance network is made up of 27 DHR-ICMR Virus Research & Diagnostic Laboratories as well as the country’s National Influenza Centre (WHO-NIC), which is based at the ICMR-National Institute of Virology in Pune and is also a WHO Collaborating Centre for Global Influenza Surveillance & Response System (GISRS).
The surveillance network monitored the human influenza virus and SARS-CoV-2 infection in SARI and ILI cases during the first nine weeks of this year.
“The IDSP-IHIP data from health facilities indicate that during the month of January 2023, a total of 397,814 cases of Acute Respiratory Illness/Influenza Like Illness (ARI/ILI) were reported from the country that increased slightly to 436,523 during February, 2023. In the first 9 days of March 2023, this number stands at 133,412 cases,” the Health Ministry said in a statement.
The weekly data from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) reveals that H3N2 has of late taken the lead pushing Covid-19 aside.
Besides, of the samples tested for the 9th week, 56 are of H3N2, 13 of Victoria, 5 of Influenza A H1N1.
“Seasonal H3N2 flu is a human flu from H3N2 that is slightly different from one of the previous year’s flu season H3N2 variants. Seasonal influenza viruses flow out of overlapping epidemics in East Asia and Southeast Asia, then trickle around the globe before dying off. Identifying the source of the viruses allows global health officials to better predict which viruses are most likely to cause the most disease over the next year,” said Shuchin Bajaj, a doctor and director at Ujala Cygnus Hospitals.
Meanwhile, the ministry has said: “Oseltamivir is the drug recommended by WHO. The drug is made available through the Public Health System free of cost. The government has allowed the sale of Oseltamivir under Schedule H1 of Drug and Cosmetic Act in February 2017 for wider accessibility and availability.”
