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After over 700 deaths last year, Maharashtra gets 1.25 lakh doses of H1N1 vaccine

As many as 4,819 persons have been administered the vaccine against H1N1 across the state, and nearly 2,000 persons have been given the shots in Pune.

As many as 4,819 persons have been administered the vaccine against H1N1 across the state, and nearly 2,000 persons have been given the shots in Pune. (Representational Image) 

Maharashtra has received 1.25 lakh doses of vaccine to prevent cases of H1N1, or swine flu, which has already claimed three lives in the state since January this year. Last year, 778 patients had died of H1N1 across the state. State Surveillance Officer Dr Pradeep Awate said Pune has received 58,000 doses of the vaccine. As many as 4,819 persons have been administered the vaccine against H1N1 across the state, and nearly 2,000 persons have been given the shots in Pune.

Last year, more than 42,000 persons had been vaccinated against H1N1, while in 2016, over 1 lakh persons were given the vaccine. The numbers are higher for 2016 as the vaccine was given from the latter half of 2015 and continued till 2016, explained Dr Awate. This year, the state has seen eight cases of H1N1, which has claimed three lives in Ahmednagar, Nashik and Pimpri-Chinchwad. In areas under the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), there have been three cases of H1N1, while last year, there were a total of 703 cases and 148 deaths.

In 2016, there were 29 cases and 10 deaths in areas under PMC, and 82 cases and 26 deaths across the state. Due to the slight change in the pandemic H1N1 virus — labelled as an antigenic drift according to experts at the National Institute of Virology — the vaccine also includes the Michigan strain, which has replaced the California strain. In the past eight years, flu shots around the world have contained the virus, that was retrieved from a sick person in California in 2009, in the early days of H1N1.

However, the World Health Organisation recommended changing the 2009 H1N1 component for the Southern Hemisphere’s 2017 flu vaccine. The present vaccine now includes the changed component. The vaccine is given to high-risk persons including pregnant women, and persons with diabetes and hypertension, who have to be immunised against the H1N1 virus, said state health officials.

First uploaded on: 17-02-2018 at 05:55 IST
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