Swine flu is back in India with a vengeance

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After India faced the worst swine flu outbreak in 2015, death tolls and reported cases plummeted in 2016, much to one's relief. However, the H1N1 virus which causes the deadly flu is back in India, claiming the lives of many.

The Indian Express reported that at least 600 people have died due to swine flu as of July 9, 2017. In reply to an unstarred question in Rajya Sabha, Health Minister J P Nadda disclosed the data.

A total of 12,460 people have been infected with the virus in India this year, starkly contrasting with 1,786 cases in 2016.

Maharashtra has the highest number of swine flu deaths, with numbers going up to 284 so far. The state had reported 26 swine flu deaths in 2016 but the death toll in 2017 is already soaring above the 265 total deaths all over India last year. Pune has been the worst hit, with 60 deaths and Nashik followed with 31 deaths till June 2017.

Earlier in March, Maharashtra Health Minister had called a review meeting in Pune to discuss the ways to control the epidemic.

The first death of 2017 was reported in Mumbai. An 18-month-old baby died due to swine flu in  Mumbai's Kasturba Hospital on April 25, bringing the terror of the deadly H1N1 virus back.

The Chandigarh Health Department issued a set of advisory to control the disease on July 17 after the state faced four swine flu deaths. The advisory asked people with fever to stay away from public gatherings and also alerted the local hospitals to be prompt in their diagnosis.

India has seen the highly contagious disease spreading across the past four months, as cases have been reported from all over the country. According to experts in National Institute of Virology (NIV), the reason for this sudden outbreak is a mild alteration in the H1N1 virus. NIV called it an "antigenic drift" which is making the virus deadlier than before. However, NIV ruled out the possibility of any major mutational changes.

The H1N1 virus is a variant of the flu virus which entails usual symptoms of influenza. They include sneezing, cold, fever, headache, nausea, loss of appetite etc. The World Health Organization called it a pandemic in 2009 after it started rapidly spreading globally. India was worst affected in by it in 2015 with 42,592 cases of which 3,000 were fatal.

The medicinal cure for the virus is Tamiflu has been made available in all stores. On June 22, the Indian government which previously gave only authorised pharmacies to stock the drugs have now allowed licenced chemists to stock it, making it widely available across all medical shops.

Some of the proposed preventive measures for the disease include covering the mouth while sneezing and avoiding direct or indirect contact with people showing symptoms of seasonal influenza. A blood test for the H1N1 virus needs to be immediately done if one suffers from flu for more than three days.