India reported 1,317 H3N2 cases from January 1-March 21: MoS Pawar informs Rajya Sabha

India reported 1317 cases of H3N2 from January 1 to March 21 according to information provided by states and Union Territories Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar informed the Rajya Sabha on TuesdayAccording to the Indian Council of Medical Research ICMR of the 510 H3N2 cases reported through ILISARI surveillance in the last two months 19 patients required ICU admission Pawar said in a written replyAs reported by the ICMR the influenza working group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization is reviewing the data for seasonal influenza vaccination she addedPawar added that the Union Health Ministry is monitoring the situation and has taken several steps to support the states for management of influenza cases including H3N2 These include issuing an advisory requesting all the states and Union Territories to take necessary steps such closely following the trend of ILISARI influenzalike illnesssevere acute respiratory illness in their respective areasAlso Read Rajya Sabha adjourned for the day amid ruckus by Opposition members over Adani issueThe states and Union Territories have been asked to monitor the proportion of SARI cases and refer sufficient number of samples for testing for influenza and SARSCoV2 among others raise community awareness regarding adherence to respiratory and hand hygiene and promoting early reporting of symptoms and limiting contact if suffering from respiratory illnessThe advisory also asks them to widely disseminate technical guidelines for seasonal influenza made available on the ministry website to implement operational guidelines for revised surveillance strategy in context of COVID19 that provide for integrated surveillance of respiratory pathogens presenting as ILISARI casesThe states and Union Territories have also been asked to take stock of hospital preparedness including drugs medical equipment capacity building of human resource on existing guidelines as well as vaccination coverage against COVID19 and influenza and ensure adequate infrastructure at district levelTo ensure adequate infrastructure at the district level the Centre provides financial assistance to all states under the National Health Mission to strengthen public health care systems including setting up new facilities and infrastructure upgradation under various schemes Pawar saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever