Asia-Pacific Daily Report

The increasing number of H1N1 flu infections in India, including at least 20 deaths as of Friday (August 14), has triggered panic in much of the country, and has caused schools, cinemas and shopping malls to temporarily shut down in a bid to curb the spread of the disease, the Associated Press (AP) and BBC news reported. On Friday, the AP said streets of the worst-affected western city of Pune were half-empty, while schools in Mumbai were shut down. Additionally, hospitals were inundated with patients suffering aches as India tried to cope with outbreaks of both H1N1 flu and panic. According to government numbers, the 20 casualties were among 1,283 confirmed infections. Dr. Jai Narain, the head of the regional communicable disease office for the World Health Organization (WHO), was quoted by the AP as saying on Friday, “The amount of frenzy and hysteria is totally disproportionate to the overall reality of the disease.” The outbreak has raised concern on whether the country’s health system is able to deal with the situation and fears loom that the disease could take a large toll in the densely packed country. The western city of Pune, located in Maharashtra state, has been the hardest hit, tallying 12 of the country’s 20 deaths. Chandrakant Dalvi, a city official, called the situation in Pune “alarming” due to the number of positive cases and deaths. More than 11,000 people queued up to be tested for H1N1 flu on Thursday (August 13), where 73 yielded a positive result. He told the AP that they were building their resources in the city to cope with the situation and told people not to panic. According to the New York Times (NYT), although the virus appears mostly in Maharashtra and in western Gujarat state, this week, more cases have been reported from the southernmost state of Kerala and the northernmost state of Jammu and Kashmir. The outbreak has prompted India’s government to establish testing centers throughout the country and has plans to increase its stock of the antiviral drug, Tamiflu, to 30 million doses. Health officials have also made tens of thousands of test kits available. However, the government’s precautions are very expensive, as testing one suspected H1N1 flu sample costs US$208 and takes six hours for results, the NYT reported. India’s health ministry confirmed their first H1N1 flu death on August 3 in the city of Pune.

Source:

· http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-08/10/content_11858662.htm

· http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ituzWkFAm2ZHY05fhSE2xV9VJb0wD9...

· http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/world/asia/13india.html?hpw

· http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8198721.stm

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