30-year-old Patna woman tests positive for H3N2 with no travel history

PATNA: Amid the sudden spurt in cases of viral infection and seasonal flu, a 30-year-old woman medical student in Patna was tested positive for H3N2 variant, a subtype of Influenza A virus, said the officials on Sunday. It is the first H3N2 case reported in the state this year.
The victim was suffering from dry cough and fever, following which she went for the test at Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (RMRI), Agamkuan, Patna. The result came positive about a couple of days ago and her sample was collected on Tuesday along with 20 others. According to the doctors, the woman had already recovered from the viral infection after she was administered the medicine.
RMRI director Dr Krishna Pandey said the RT-PCR test of 21 patients was done, of which one report came positive. "The woman, who recovered from the infection, had come to our outdoor patient department (OPD) about ten days back with mild fever and intense coughing, which was not responding to the antibiotics. After that the doctors suggested for H3N2 test," he said.
"The doctors prescribed her an anti-viral medication, Oseltamivir, for five days and suggested for RT-PCR test. Her report came positive but she had no travel history. After taking medicines, the woman recovered. The sample collection was done under the project of the ICMR-Delhi," Dr Pandey said, adding that the RMRI is doing weekly test of 25 patients and it was the first round.
H3N2 is a non-human influenza virus that normally circulates in pigs and has infected humans, according to the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Centre has issued an advisory to all the states, asking them to closely monitor the trend of seasonal influenza situation.
The union ministry of health is also keeping an eye on the situation through the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) network on real-time basis.