H3N2 virus: Influenza virus kills 2, Centre issues advisory
- March 11, 2023
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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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.