New epicentre of swine flu: Delhi

Delhi accounted for 50.7 per cent of India’s confirmed H1N1 cases over the past week, shows Union health ministry data.

Delhi accounted for 50.7 per cent of India’s confirmed H1N1 cases over the past week, shows Union health ministry data.

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Of the 2,400 H1N1 cases reported in India since between December 3 and December 10, 1,217 were in Delhi.

H1N1 infected 21,929 people and caused 670 deaths across the country till December 10.

“Swine flu is rampant in Delhi and accounts for 20 per cent of cases among children in my clinic,” said Dr Subhash Arya, chairman, Department of Paedi-atrics and Adolescent Medicine at BLK Memorial Hospital at Pusa Road in Central Delhi.

“The slight spurt in cases was expected in winter as the weather is conducive to the spread of viral infection,” said Vineet Chawdhry, joint secretary, ministry of health. “The increase is anyway localised to Delhi, so we can hardly say the ‘second wave’ of the epidemic has hit India.”

“The spurt was expected. It is nothing to worry about,” said Dr V.M. Katoch, director-general of Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

He cited Pune, where the epidemic has slowed down since it peaked in August. “ICMR’s reports of the progression dynamics of H1N1 in Pune shows about 40 per cent people have developed antibodies against H1N1, which has slowed down the spread,” said Dr Katoch.