India is seeing a surge in Swine Flu cases. According to the data shared by the government, over 20,000 individuals have been infected with the virus and at least 347 have died in India as of December 2024.
While Delhi has recorded 3,141 cases, other states are also recording a surge in the seasonal influenza A (H1N1) virus. This virus can infect birds, pigs, and even humans. Kerala has recorded a total of 2,846 cases, Tamil Nadu has recorded 1777 cases, Maharashtra has registered 2,027 cases, Gujarat has recorded 1,711 cases, and lastly, Rajasthan has recorded 1,149 cases.
The information on flu cases and resulting deaths has been derived from the data reports that were sent by states and Union Territories to the Central Surveillance Unit, Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) at the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in Delhi. As of now, the most prominent subtypes of Influenza that is going around in India seems to be the Influenza A (H1N1) and its subtype H3N2.
Influenza is a seasonal illness where India records cases usually from January to March, and again from August to October. Different weather conditions and human activities create an environment where various viruses, like influenza A (H1N1, H3N2) and adenoviruses, can spread easily.
The states that have reported a large number of deaths include Maharashtra (with the highest number of deaths- 71), followed by Kerala (with 61 deaths), Gujarat (with 55 deaths), Chhattisgarh (with 43 deaths), Punjab (with 48 deaths) and Haryana ( with 26 deaths).
The World Health Organization (WHO) says that there are around a billion cases of seasonal influenza that occur annually. These include 3–5 million cases of severe illness and causes 290,000-650,000 respiratory deaths annually worldwide.
