Tamil Nadu tops list of H1N1 cases in India

It seems swine flu is fast catching up with Tamil Nadu. Out of every 100 Indians, who tested positive for swine flu recently, 22 were from the state. This marks a five-fold increase compared to around four percent till about August 2010.

There were 1,155 persons across India, who tested positive for H1N1 between September 20 to October 11, out of whom 249 were from TN, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
R Porkaipandian, director for public health and preventive medicine, said that the primary reason for the spurt was the change in climate. “The onset of winter is normally conducive for transmission of the virus. The reporting system has also been strengthened resulting in more cases coming to light.”
A curious aspect in the Centre’s monitoring of the flu is the mysterious absence of figures for the weeks/period - September 13 to 19; August 23 to September 11 and August 9 to 15 from the health ministry’s website. Sujatha Rao, Union Health and Family Welfare Secretary could not be reached for her response.
Dr Porkaipandian said he would take this with the ministry.
Further, there are borderline cases of the flu that are not recognised as confirmed ones, as a result of which there is question mark on the credibility of figures. The death of a nurse at the Government Rajaji Hospital, Madurai, on October 9 was officially attributed to acute respiratory distress syndrome, though a doctor believes that it was a borderline case of H1N1.