Epidemiologist says nothing to worry
PANAJI
With 91 detected in August and September till date, swine flu cases have shown a significant rise this year but it’s not a public health threat and there is nothing to worry, State Epidemiologist, Utkarsh Betodkar has said.
According to official data, there were 71 cases of swine flu – the flu caused by the H1N1 virus – and an additional 20 cases in September thus far. The numbers are significantly higher than the two and 31 cases recorded in the same two months last year.
However, the disease is not challenging in the context of its clinical management anymore and therefore not a threat to public health, Dr Betodkar said.
“The world over, swine flu is now regarded as a “seasonal flu” like any other flu but we continue to maintain passive surveillance throughout the year,” Dr Betodkar said.
Testing for swine flu is routinely done at the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) Bambolim and also at both the district hospitals in Mapusa and Margao.
Nearly 2,000 samples have been tested of which 106 turned up positive for the H1N1 virus so far this year, according to the official data. Last year (2023), a total of 2,333 samples were tested and 105 turned out positive for the virus.
Typically, swine flu patients are administered the Oseltamivir drug either as a tablet or a syrup formulation. Other symptoms like cold and fever, if present, are also treated simultaneously with appropriate medicines, he said.
The Directorate of Health Services (DHS) through its network of primary and community health centres also reaches out to kin and neighbours of patients who have tested positive to ascertain if anyone is symptomatic.
“Those who may have come in contact with the patient and are symptomatic are treated at home without testing them. Also, aged relatives with a history of health issues and others with comorbidities, including former TB patients are also given the treatment which is ideally one tablet a day for 10 days,” Dr Betodkar said.
Cases of swine flu had peaked in Goa nearly a decade ago in 2015 and there was a bit of panic in the State then due to an acute shortage of the Oseltamivir drug. According to Dr Betodkar, the DHS and the FDA were forced to step in then and negotiate with a top pharma company to ensure supplies of the drug then.
However, in subsequent years the numbers declined and then when the pandemic hit in 2020, the focus completely shifted to Covid.
In 2020, there were nil cases of swine flu in Goa while nine were reported in 2021. These shot up to 217 in 2022 and again declined to 105 last year.
Also, as Dr Betodkar pointed out, a majority of these numbers are reported in the monsoon months of July, August and September, confirming that the patterns are seasonal.
