Pune: 70% dip in H1N1 but experts worry over drop in vaccination efforts

Written by Anuradha Mascarenhas | Pune | Published:December 13, 2016 9:09 am

According to health officials, over 1 lakh people have been immunised against H1N1 virus since July last year. Express photo

There has been a 70 per cent decline in the number of H1N1 virus cases registered since last year. However, the drop in immunisation against the H1N1 virus has now led the state expert committee on communicable diseases to sound a warning that the “battle is far from over”.  As against 905 deaths registered last year due to the resurgence of pandemic H1N1 influenza, there were 25 deaths in the state this year. Dr Subash Salunkhe, chairman of the state expert committee to prevent communicable diseases, told The Indian Express.

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He, however, has raised concerns over the drop in the use of vaccine against H1N1 virus and has stressed the need for sustaining the surveillance measures. “Vaccination against the virus is one of the major recommendations made by the expert committee and in our last meeting in October we were informed that the process of procuring the vaccine was yet to begin,” Salunkhe said.

Pune, Thane and Nashik are among the top cities that have recorded the highest number of H1N1 cases. From 2009-2016, there have been 5,365 such cases and a total of 431 deaths. Out of these, 209 were from Pune while the remaining were from outside the city and had sought treatment at hospitals here. Last year, there were as many as 1,126 cases of H1N1 virus and 153 deaths, out of which, a total of 50 deceased were residents of the city. This year, however, there have been 28 cases and 10 deaths. According to Pune Municipal Corporation health officials, out of 10 deaths, only four were from Pune.

The resurgence of the pandemic virus in 2015 again raised public health concerns and experts had urged that a vaccination campaign, public awareness and education measures should continue in an optimum mode. Immunity to the virus is acquired, either from exposure to infection or due to vaccination.
According to the health officials, over 1 lakh people — especially from the high-risk groups, including pregnant women, diabetic persons and others — have been immunised against H1N1 virus since July last year. The vaccines had been made available at state-run hospitals, medical colleges and civic-run hospitals free of cost.

The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC)’s health officials said that a total of 5,379 high-risk persons, including pregnant women, had been immunised against H1N1 virus. While civic bodies have also been directed to allocate their own budget for the vaccines, highly-placed officials at the PMC too admitted that there has been no supply from the state.”We have now purchased 1,000 doses of the vaccine and sent letters to municipal corporation-run hospitals to take consent from the patients who are willing to be immunised,” a PMC health official said.