India: Swine flu threat lessens

**By APD writer Rishika Chauhan **

NEW DELHI, October 28 (APD) - According to experts the threat of swine flu has finally diminished in India, after claiming the life of 2000 people.

In medical terms called Influenza A (H1N1), swine flu outbreak was relatively mild last year, in 2016, causing 1,786 infections and 265 deaths.

However, according to the health ministry data, this year till October, 37,500 people were infected and 2,089 died.

AC Dhariwal, the director of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said,

“This year saw an upsurge of cases, and now there is a decline. H1N1, however, is now endemic, which means low levels of transmission will continue throughout the year.”

In the last two months, the number of swine flu cases have drastically increased.

While 610 deaths were reported in August, 599 were registered in September.

According to officials, the provinces of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan were the worst affected.

In North India, the outbreak usually takes place in the month of January and in peninsular India it occurs between February to March.

According to World Health Organisation estimates, every year about 5 to 15% of the world’s population is infected by swine flu.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)