New Delhi:
With 689 cases of swine flu resulting in 35 deaths reported in the last two months across the country, Cabinet Secretary Ajit Kumar Seth on Thursday chaired a meeting of the Committee of Secretaries to review the preparedness to contain the incidence of H1N1 virus.
The Cabinet Secretary was apprised that a Central team was deputed to Pune on April 8 to investigate the outbreak of H1N1 and their preliminary report shows that the cases and deaths reported from Pune and Pimpri-Chinchiwad are sporadic in nature.
During the period from March 1 to April 9, 689 cases of H1N1 were reported from Maharashtra (392 cases), Karnataka (104), Andhra Pradesh (66), Rajasthan (84), Tamil Nadu (28), Delhi (6), Gujarat (5) and one each in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
During this period, 35 deaths have been reported, of which 15 were from Maharashtra, nine from Rajasthan, six from Andhra Pradesh, two from Gujarat and one each from Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has been asked to monitor the situation on a day-to-day basis and take all possible steps to ensure the drug and vaccine are available in sufficient stock.
The members of the meeting were informed that a central stockpile of Oseltamivir tablets (anti-viral drug) is being maintained and Department of Pharmaceuticals is monitoring availability of raw ingredients for making the drug.
The government has said that there is no cause for panic about Pandemic influenza-A H1N1 and the situation with respect to instances of H1N1 is well "under control" and is being monitored even as the virus has not mutated to a more virulent form or changed its character.