At least two persons have died due to the infection of H3N2 subtype of seasonal influenza, which has infected rising numbers of people since mid-December 2022.
Key points
- The first recorded death from H3N2 this year was of an 82-year-old man in Karnataka’s Hassan district. The second deceased was a 56-year-old lung cancer patient in Haryana’s Jind district who tested positive for the H3N2 virus in January and succumbed to it.
- Patients infected with H3N2 display symptoms similar to COVID-19: fever, cough, breathlessness, wheezing and pneumonia.
- Apart from H3N2, a total of 955 cases of H1N1 virus — better known as swine flu — have also been reported.
- Oseltamivir, a drug used to treat H1N1, has been recommended by the World Health Organization for the treatment of H3N2 cases as well.
- Government has allowed sale of Oseltamivir under Schedule H1 of Drug and Cosmetic Act in February 2017 for wider accessibility and availability.
About H3N2
- Influenza viruses, which cause the infectious disease known as flu, are of four different types: A, B, C and D.
- Influenza A is further classified into different subtypes and one of them is the H3N2. H3N2 caused the 1968 flu pandemic that led to the death of around one million people globally and about 100,000 in the US.
- Its symptoms are similar to that of any other flu. They include cough, fever, body ache and headache, sore throat, a runny or stuffy nose and extreme fatigue.
- Children and those with co-morbidities like asthma, diabetes, heart disease, weakened immune systems and neurological or neurodevelopmental conditions are at a higher risk.
- Technically anyone who comes in contact with the virus can contract this disease. Most people with normal immunity will manifest symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection.
