Health

H3N2 Influenza virus: India sees first 2 deaths from this virus, says report

March 10, 2023
Bharat Times

According to news reports, India has seen two deaths due to H3N2 influenza virus in two states of North and South India – Haryana and Karnataka. Government sources have been cited on this update in media reports. While the first death was reported from the state of Karnataka, the second death, says the report, was reported from Haryana. For the last several weeks, the country is in the grip of this virus due to which hospitalization is also happening.

There are about 90 cases of H3N2 virus in the country. Eight cases of H1N1 virus have also been reported. H3N2 influenza is also known as “Hong Kong flu”. Patients are taking longer to recover and the virus has caused widespread concern after the COVID-19 pandemic. Doctors, however, have asked people not to panic and follow proper behavior for flu.

Some of the major symptoms of H3N2 virus include cough, chills, fever, sneezing and runny nose, nausea and vomiting, sore throat, body aches and muscle aches as well as diarrhea.

Earlier, Dr Randeep Guleria, President and Director of Medical Education, Institute of Internal Medicine and Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, said that the virus mutates every year during this time and spreads through droplets. “So, currently we are seeing an increase in the number of cases of influenza, which is basically a history of fever, sore throat, body aches and runny nose, and it is a type of influenza virus that we see every year this year. Let’s see over time. But this is a virus that changes over time, it mutates over time and that is what we call antigenic drift,” Randeep Guleria said. “We had a pandemic of H1N1 many years ago. The circulating strain of that virus is now H3N2 and so it is a common influenza strain. But we are seeing more cases because the virus mutated a bit, the immunity we had to the virus is reduced slightly and therefore susceptible people get the infection more easily,” Dr. Guleria explained. The increased hospitalization has not increased to a great extent,” he had said.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) had also asked people to avoid antibiotics a few days ago.

The IMA reported that people have started taking antibiotics like anthracin and amoxiclav, regardless of the dose and frequency, and stopped once they started feeling better. He added that “this needs to be stopped because it leads to antibiotic resistance.”
The IMA wrote, “Whenever antibiotics have an actual use, they will not work because of resistance.”