Ronan Kelly
Retired 2020
H1N1: Over 31,000 throat swabs came from state
Umesh Isalkar, TNN, Aug 12, 2010, 12.05am IST
PUNE: The number of throat swabs received for testing at the National Institute of Virology, here, shows how badly the state was hit during the pandemic phase of influenza A H1N1 virus. Of the total number of throat swabs that have come for testing since June 2009, a whopping 31,366 samples were from Maharashtra alone. Nearly 5,000 samples were from other parts of the country. Of the total samples received from the state, 6,886 cases have tested positive so far, with an average 22 per cent infection rate over the year.
"It was on May 2, 2009, that we received the first throat swab sample and it was from Hyderabad. We started receiving samples from Maharashtra from June 2009 onwards. Most of them are from Pune and Mumbai and the presence of the virus was detected in 6,889 samples," Mandeep Chadha, deputy director of NIV, told TOI on Wednesday. The normal, seasonal influenza strains were also found in many samples, she added.
Initially, the NIV received samples from places like Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. "Barring a few samples from Kerala, following the recent resurgence of the pandemic virus there, we receive samples only from Maharashtra now." Despite testing facilities being made available at Haffkine Institute and Kasturba hospital in Mumbai, samples continue to come from there at the NIV in Pune, she added.
Going by the number of positive cases, the average infection rate was 22 percent over the year. However, this keeps fluctuating. Earlier, the rate of infection was hovering between 15 and 25 per cent. Since July this year, it has gone up to 40 per cent, Chadha said. Over 200 samples now arrive at the NIV on a daily basis, she added.
"When the World Health Organisation declared a global flu pandemic on June 11, 2009, there were, then, just five centres in the country, including NIV, Pune, and the National Institute of Communicable Diseases, New Delhi, where testing facilities were available with real time PCR. Later, when the cases started increasing, 14 centres of Indian Council of Medical Research and a few centres of NICD were upgraded to testing centres. At present, there are around 28 centres in the country where testing of H1N1 virus is being done," Chadha said.
It was in mid-August last year, that the NIV decided that throat swabs of only severely ill patients would be tested for the flu. "We took the decision as taking throat swabs and conducting their tests had become redundant as the virus had entrenched in the community. Moreover, carrying out tests of throat swabs of all patients would have only added to the delay in treatment," said Chadha. It was also in the month of August that the state government decided to administer Tamilfu to suspected cases.
"It means that the total number of samples which have tested positive for the virus so far is just the tip of the iceberg. Many who developed symptoms were administered Tamiflu immediately after the onset of illness and escaped testing," said Arun Jamkar, dean of the Sassoon general hospital.
Read more: H1N1: Over 31,000 throat swabs came from state - Pune - City - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...-state-/articleshow/6295533.cms#ixzz0wKoV4ih1
Umesh Isalkar, TNN, Aug 12, 2010, 12.05am IST
PUNE: The number of throat swabs received for testing at the National Institute of Virology, here, shows how badly the state was hit during the pandemic phase of influenza A H1N1 virus. Of the total number of throat swabs that have come for testing since June 2009, a whopping 31,366 samples were from Maharashtra alone. Nearly 5,000 samples were from other parts of the country. Of the total samples received from the state, 6,886 cases have tested positive so far, with an average 22 per cent infection rate over the year.
"It was on May 2, 2009, that we received the first throat swab sample and it was from Hyderabad. We started receiving samples from Maharashtra from June 2009 onwards. Most of them are from Pune and Mumbai and the presence of the virus was detected in 6,889 samples," Mandeep Chadha, deputy director of NIV, told TOI on Wednesday. The normal, seasonal influenza strains were also found in many samples, she added.
Initially, the NIV received samples from places like Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. "Barring a few samples from Kerala, following the recent resurgence of the pandemic virus there, we receive samples only from Maharashtra now." Despite testing facilities being made available at Haffkine Institute and Kasturba hospital in Mumbai, samples continue to come from there at the NIV in Pune, she added.
Going by the number of positive cases, the average infection rate was 22 percent over the year. However, this keeps fluctuating. Earlier, the rate of infection was hovering between 15 and 25 per cent. Since July this year, it has gone up to 40 per cent, Chadha said. Over 200 samples now arrive at the NIV on a daily basis, she added.
"When the World Health Organisation declared a global flu pandemic on June 11, 2009, there were, then, just five centres in the country, including NIV, Pune, and the National Institute of Communicable Diseases, New Delhi, where testing facilities were available with real time PCR. Later, when the cases started increasing, 14 centres of Indian Council of Medical Research and a few centres of NICD were upgraded to testing centres. At present, there are around 28 centres in the country where testing of H1N1 virus is being done," Chadha said.
It was in mid-August last year, that the NIV decided that throat swabs of only severely ill patients would be tested for the flu. "We took the decision as taking throat swabs and conducting their tests had become redundant as the virus had entrenched in the community. Moreover, carrying out tests of throat swabs of all patients would have only added to the delay in treatment," said Chadha. It was also in the month of August that the state government decided to administer Tamilfu to suspected cases.
"It means that the total number of samples which have tested positive for the virus so far is just the tip of the iceberg. Many who developed symptoms were administered Tamiflu immediately after the onset of illness and escaped testing," said Arun Jamkar, dean of the Sassoon general hospital.
Read more: H1N1: Over 31,000 throat swabs came from state - Pune - City - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...-state-/articleshow/6295533.cms#ixzz0wKoV4ih1