Amid rising numbers of cases of COVID-19 all over India, Gujarat’s Ahmedabad city reported new cases of swine flu at an alarming rate, raising concern for health authorities across the state.
On August 30, the city reported 80 new Covid cases. The number of active cases stands at 521. A total of 114 patients have been discharged. Across Gujarat, 225 new cases were reported. Following 337 discharges, the number of active cases reached 1,755.
Eight patients are on ventilators. Two of the state’s 33 districts have no active cases.
Vadodara recorded 29 cases, while Surat, Dand and Rajkot recorded 25, 11 and nine cases respectively. One death was recorded in Rajkot city.
In the past 24 hours, the state administered 2,081 first doses of Covid vaccine and 5,222 second doses. In all, 5.43 crore persons have had at least one dose and 5.39 crore have had two doses.
According to sources, during the first 17 days in the month of August, the city reported nearly 336 cases of H1N1, whereas from August 18 onwards, another 373 new cases were added to the chapter in a matter of just 11 days.
The highest number of cases was reported from Bodakdev (69) and Jodhpur (70) regions of Ahmedabad. Earlier in January this year, 743 cases were reported, of which 709 were just from the month of August alone.
The total death toll has climbed to six after the loss of four more patients to swine flu in August. The highest number of H1N1 flu cases in the western part of the city has risen this year in comparison to what was seen in the year 2019.
Approximately, 70 percent of H1N1 cases were reported all alone from city’s western areas- Navrangpura, Paldi, Vasna, Thaltej and Ghalodia including Bodakdev and Jodhpur, whereas, only 20 cases of swine flu were reported in Naroda region, located on the eastern part of the city.
“In June just two cases were reported, in July there were 30 cases, while in August, 709 cases were reported. Of these, roughly 200 swine flu cases were reported in the first seven days of August,” a health official at AMC said.
Majority of the children, less than 15 years of age were reported to be affected. Of the total number of cases reported till August 18, around 100 were identified to be the children under 15, according to the sources.
“The infection spreads faster in schools when they mingle. We are now closely monitoring this rise. We have reported two H1N1 deaths this year, but these deaths were because of chronic underlying conditions among the elderly,” asserted the senior health official, AMC.
Swine flu or H1N1 is chiefly caused by the H1N1 strain of the influenza virus. It’s a type of influenza A virus that can cause seasonal flu. This H1N1 virus is a combination of viruses from pigs, birds and humans that causes disease in several others.
