The states were requested to take a stock of hospital preparedness such as availability of drugs and medical oxygen, vaccination coverage against COVID-19 and influenza.
Swine flu claimed 344 lives this year even though the pandemic has subsided in the country, Union Health Ministry told the Lok Sabha on Friday.
'All the judges were provided treatment as per the protocol. Prophylactic treatment was also given to all who have come in contact with them including their family members. 'All five judges were kept in home isolation. Of these, three judges have already resumed their duty and two continue to be under home isolation/observation and are recovering,' the ministry said in a statement.
The Union health ministry advisory that urges Indians to avoid international travel as a precaution against swine flu has family travellers worried and the travel industry more so.
According to the study, both SARS-CoV-2 and H1N1 are the same category of virus, and both infect the respiratory tract. While the lungs of both groups shared some common features, the scientists said there were distinctive features related to blood vessels seen in the lungs of patients who had died due to COVID-19.
The World Health Organisation is urging people around the world to brace themselves for a second wave of the swine flu pandemic as the heavily populated northern hemisphere edges towards the cooler season when flu thrives. WHO Director General Margaret Chan warned on Friday that there had been instances of second and third waves when pandemics had struck earlier."We cannot say for certain whether the worst is over or the worst is yet to come," Chan said.
Here is an FAQ on the dreaded virus
Invoking the Act enables the government to forcibly put swine flu patients under quarantine in government hospitals.
In first confirmed cases of swine flu in Kerala, three persons, two of them women, tested positive for the A (H1N1) virus on Sunday. Of these, a 53-year-old woman and her 24-year-old son had arrived at the Nedumbassery Airport in Kochi on June 24 from Britain while another woman reached Karippur Airport in Kozhikode from Dubai the same day.
The current wave of influenza A virus is linked to the way we produce food in factory farms.
India recorded its first case of swine flu, with a 23-year-old man who flew from New York to Hyderabad testing positive for the virus. The patient, who travelled from the United States via Dubai, arrived in Hyderabad on May 13 and was isolated as he reported fever and his samples were sent for a detailed examination.
According to latest WHO update, Mexico and the US have topped the list of 30 countries where laboratory-confirmed human cases of the virus have been reported. Mexico has 2,059 cases with 56 deaths while the US has 2600 with three deaths. Canada has 330 cases, including one death, while Costa Rica has eight cases, including one death.
The World Health Organisation noted on Thursday international pandemic alert remains at phase 5, on a six-level warning scale, as the number of laboratory confirmed cases rose to 2,099 up by 441 from Wednesday including 44 deaths. Twenty-three countries have reported influenza A(H1N1) infections, with Mexico reporting 1,112 cases and 42 deaths, and the United States confirming 642 cases and two deaths.
Swine flu was first reported in Mexico, SARS and bird flu in China, but India surprisingly escaped being ground zero for any.
The study noted that humans are not protected from the G4 virus by the immunity offered by other human influenza vaccine strains, indicating that there is no preexisting population immunity to the virus.
Swine flu has claimed the lives of 15 more persons in the last two days as the death toll climbed to 2,123 while the number of affected persons in the country inched towards the 35,000 mark.
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