Medical response to tackle H1N1

With a view to tackle the new wave of H1N1 cases in various states including Karnataka since March, the Central government on Thursday announced that the government's medical response system has been put on a state of preparedness and there was  enough stocks of Tamiflu – the commonly used medicine to treat it.

 “The medical response system has been put on a state of preparedness. Forty five laboratories are testing samples (26 in government sector and 19 in private). A nationwide network of laboratories in the private sector is also available for rapid diagnosis,” health ministry said in a statement after reviewing the scenario.

Between March 1 and April 9, as many as 35 H1N1 deaths have been reported from all over the country out of which 15 were from Maharashtra, nine from Rajasthan, six from Andhra Pradesh, two from Gujarat and one each from Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

In the same period, there was 689 cases of H1N1 --Maharashtra (392 cases), Karnataka (104), Andhra Pradesh (66), Rajasthan (84), Tamil Nadu (28), Delhi (6), Gujarat (5) and Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.  The review was chaired by Cabinet Secretary Ajit Kumar Seth and attended by secretaries from health, biotechnology and pharmaceutical ministries.After elaborate examination at the National Institute of Virology in Pune, the ministry officials ruled out any change in genetic structure of the H1N1 virus.