H3N2 virus: Influenza virus kills 2, Centre issues advisory

Subject : Science and tech

Section: Health

Concept :

India has recorded 2 deaths, one each in Karnataka and Haryana, due to the Influenza A subtype H3N2 virus.

H3N2 Virus

Influenza viruses, which cause the infectious disease known as flu, are of four different types: A, B, C and D.
Influenza A is further classified into different subtypes and one of them is the H3N2.
According to the USA’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), H3N2 caused the 1968 flu pandemic that led to the death of around one million people globally.
The strains of the virus have dramatically evolved in the past five decades as people born in the late 1960s and 1970s got infected by it as children.
Symptoms/Cure/Preparedness of H3N2
Its symptoms are similar to that of any other flu (cough, fever, body ache and headache, sore throat, a runny or stuffy nose and extreme fatigue).
According to the Indian Medical Association (IMA), an infection caused by H3N2 generally lasts for 5-7 days and usually preys on individuals below the age of 15 years or above 50 years of age.
Self-hygiene is the best way to thwart the spread of H3N2.
Oseltamivir, a drug used to treat H1N1, has been recommended by the World Health Organization for the treatment of H3N2 cases as well.
The Indian government has made the drug available through the public health system free of cost.
The Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme of the National Centre for Disease Control of India is undertaking a real-time surveillance of cases of influenza-like/severe acute respiratory infections present in health facilities.

Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme

The Integrated Disease Surveillance Project was launched by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in assistance with the World Bank, in 2004.
It continued as the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) during 12th Plan (2012–17) under the National Health Mission with a domestic budget.
Under it, a Central Surveillance Unit (CSU) at Delhi, State Surveillance Units (SSU) at all State/Union Territories (UTs) head quarters and District Surveillance Units (DSU) at all Districts have been established.
Programme Components:
- Integration and decentralization of surveillance activities through establishment of surveillance units at Centre, State and District level.
- Human Resource Development – Training of State Surveillance Officers (SSOs), District Surveillance Officers (DSOs), RRT and other medical and paramedical staff on principles of disease surveillance.
- Use of Information Communication Technology for collection, collation, compilation, analysis and dissemination of data.
- Strengthening of public health laboratories.
- Inter sectoral Coordination for zoonotic diseases.