Dip in mercury leads to rise in swine flu cases, 131 recorded in past 12 days

HYDERABAD: Persistent low temperature this year has resulted in a spike in swine flu cases in the city. In the last 12 days, 131new cases of the dreaded H1N1 have been recorded, while the total number of cases since January 1 has touched 214, said the health authorities, advising people to take adequate precautions.

Director Institute of Preventive Medicine (IPM), Dr K Shankar, said the virus could be more contagious currently and a large number of cases are coming to private hospitals from peripheral areas of the city. “We have seen an increase in the number of cases over the last two to three weeks. The low temperature usually keeps the virus activity at the peak. The virus could be more contagious now,” Dr K Shankar said.

A total of 1,170 samples have been tested so far in January and currently the testing centres at IPM and fever hospital are running in three shifts due to increased number of samples being received for testing.

While the average temperature in the city fluctuated between 12 and 15 degree Celsius over the last three weeks, several districts in the state frequently recorded temperature below 10 degree Celsius in the recent past. This largely has been the reason for higher number of swine flu cases during this time of the year. As per official records of the state health department, a total of 137 cases were recorded in the state in January 2017, while 7 positive cases were recorded in January 2018, both the numbers are less compared to the number of cases this year.