Above about H1N1 in Kerala.
New Delhi, June 15th: The Union Government today decided to send a three-member team to Kerala as a fresh outbreak of influenza A (H1N1) in two districts of the state has caused at least 16 deaths in the past one month.
An official press release said the the pandemic had started showing an increasing trend with the onset of the monsoon in Kerala. It said the outbreak was confined to Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam districts of south Kerala.
In all, there had been 201 laboratory-confirmed cases of the flu and 16 deaths, the release said. Nine of those who died were pregnant women.
The central team, that is expected to leave here tomorrow, will consist of Dr Sunil Gupta, Joint Director, National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Delhi, Dr Pradeep Khasnobis, Epidemiologist, NCDC, and Dr B V Tandale, Scientist, National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune.
The release said the State Government had sought support in terms of drugs, vaccines and personal protective equipment (PPE) and these were being sent to the state immediately. The items include oseltamivir capsules, oseltamivir suspension, vaccines and masks.
The release said Kerala had earlier received 45,000 doses of vaccine. The utilisation for healthcare workers is about 92 per cent, it said.
According to the release, the state government had sought one lakh doses of vaccine to vaccinate pregnant women. It said the bridging study of Sanofi Pasteur or the clinical trials conducted by Zydus Cadila did not include pregnant women.
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