Assessment of influenza virus infection in rural tertiary care hospital in North India; Two years of data analysis at Dr. Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College (DRPGMC) Kangra at Tanda, Himachal Pradesh, India

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Original Article

Author Details : Narender Kumar*, Pankaj Sharma, Smriti Chauhan, Ankita Sharma, Anuradha Sood

Volume : 6, Issue : 2, Year : 2019

Article Page : 170-173

https://doi.org/10.18231/j.ijmr.2019.037

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Abstract

Introduction: Influenza testing is carried out all over the world but in developing countries including India, there is paucity in timely identification of new strains/type of influenza viruses and their active surveillance.
Aim: This study aims to determine the record based analysis for the prevalence of influenza infection and circulating subtype, in and around Kangra District of Himachal Pradesh from January 2016 to December 2017.
Materials and Methods: Nasopharyngeal and throat swabs were collected in Viral Transport Medium and RNA were extracted by using commercially available kit (Qiagen). Real Time polymerase chain reaction (RTPCR) was carried out to amplify the influenza type A, H1N1/Pdm 2009, H3N2 and influenza B.
Results: Total of 281 cases for influenza infection in the year of 2016 and 2017, 133 (47.3%) cases were positives for influenza A, 43 (15.3%) positives for influenza H1N1/Pdm2009, 8 (2.84%) positives for H3N2 and 3 (1.06%) positives for influenza B. Nine deaths were reported in the year of 2017 due to H1N1/Pdm 2009 infection while no mortality was observed in year 2016 at DRPGMC Tanda.
Discussion and Conclusion: Influenza infection is more common in age group of 18 to 50 years followed by age of > 50 years. Active testing and data interpretation at all influenza testing laboratories throughout India will help the health authorities to expedite the need of influenza vaccination. Further, aggregating the data would help in understanding the circulation of influenza virus subtype at particular geographical areas.

Keywords: Influenza infection, Real time polymerase chain reaction, Data analysis.

How to cite : Kumar N, Sharma P , Chauhan S , Sharma A , Sood A, Assessment of influenza virus infection in rural tertiary care hospital in North India; Two years of data analysis at Dr. Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College (DRPGMC) Kangra at Tanda, Himachal Pradesh, India. Indian J Microbiol Res 2019;6(2):170-173

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