The Union health ministry on Monday said it is keeping a close watch on the seasonal influenza situation in various states and Union territories through the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) network on a real-time basis.

Seasonal influenza is an acute respiratory infection caused by influenza viruses which circulate in all parts of the world, and the cases are seen to increase during certain months globally. Since the first case of influenza A H1N1 detected in 2009, every year, India witnesses two peaks of this seasonal influenza– one from January to March and other in the post monsoon season. Young children and old age persons with co-morbidities are the most vulnerable groups in the context of seasonal influenza.

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The ministry said as of now, there has been no abnormal alarming rise in cases of seasonal flu in any part of the country.

“In view of various reports in media regarding detection of avian influenza virus in cattle and milk in various states of USA, a video conference under the chairmanship of Director General of Health Services was conducted on 28th April to review the current situation of seasonal influenza with the state of Maharashtra in which Animal Husbandry Commissioner, Officers from ICMR Headquarters, ICMR-NIV Pune, CSU IDSP, State Surveillance Unit, District Surveillance Unit, Nashik and Health officials from Malegaon participated,” it said.

It was informed by the experts that, with use of proper hygienic practices such as boiling of milk, proper cooking of meat at adequate temperature would help in preventing the virus transmission from the product (if the virus is present) to the human beings, it added.

“A near real time surveillance of cases of influenza like Illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Infections (SARI) presenting in OPDs and IPDs of health facilities is undertaken by Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) through the ICMR network of laboratories across the country,” the ministry said.

It said it has provided guidelines on categorization of patients, treatment protocol, and guidelines on ventilator management to the States and UTs which are also available on its website.

The ministry said it has also advised for vaccination of health care workers dealing with H1N1 cases.