With the mercury shooting up, number of swine flu cases reported in the State per day has seen a drastic drop. While around 20 to 25 cases were reported on a daily basis during winter months, now it has come down to just one or two cases a day.
On Monday, only two cases were reported. The cases, though, did not drop as soon as the summer set in, which is the usual trend. Going by the data between 2016 and 2019, flu cases increased in February, barring in 2018, and started to plummet from March. This trend was, however, not observed this year. In the month of March, even when temperatures touched 39 degrees C in the State, around 15 to 20 cases were reported every day.
Joint director of Epidemics Cell, Telangana Health department, Dr. P. Vikram Kumar, said the dip started gradually from mid-March. “Swine flu virus is heat-sensitive. It cannot survive in high temperatures so its prevalence is less in summers,” he explains.
Of 5,817 samples, 1,179 tested positive, and 18 deaths were reported in the State. In India, Telangana was at no.7 with 1,171 cases till April 28. A maximum of 4,986 cases were reported from Rajasthan, followed by 4,757 in Maharashtra and 3,567 in Delhi.
IMD-Hyderabad has warned heatwave conditions are likely to prevail till April 9 in a few places across Telangana.
On Monday, the highest temperature of 45.6 degrees C was recorded in Khammam, followed by 44.8 degrees C in Nalgonda, 44 degrees C in Bhadrachalam. In Hyderabad, 41.7 degrees C was reported.