Karnataka on Friday reported its first H3N2 death with health department officials revealing that an 82-year-old from Alur taluk in Hassan district died on March 1 due to the virus. The victim identified as Hire Gowda was admitted to a hospital on February 24 and he died on March 1, officials said. His lab reports confirming the infection due to H3N2 came on March 3, two days after his death. Hassan district health officer said to the media.
“We have tested the residents near Gowda’s residence. We have not found any further cases of H3N2. However, we are now on regular surveillance,” he added.
On March 6, Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar had appealed to people not to panic over the H3N2 virus. In view of increasing cases of H3N2, the state health and family welfare department had issued an advisory for health officials to prevent and control the spread of the infection.
All district health officers (DHOs) in the state were instructed to conduct regular ILI/SARI surveillance for influenza-like illness or severe acute respiratory infections with appropriate sample collection for diagnosis. The circular said that the DHOs have to ensure sufficient stock of all required doses of medicines at the health facilities.
Influenza virus H3N2 spreads through droplets and mutates every year around this time. We had a pandemic many years ago because of H1N1. The circulating strain of that virus is now H3N2, it is a normal influenza strain. But we are seeing more cases because the virus mutates a little bit.
The influenza cases present as fever accompanied by sore throat, cough, body aches and runny nose.
There is a higher chance of getting influenza when the weather changes during this time of the year and people not wearing masks in crowded places post Covid. People should be careful, especially the elderly and those who have underlying comorbid conditions. People are advised to wear masks in crowded places.
