New Delhi: With the confirmation of India's first two deaths from the H3N2 influenza virus, experts are calling for intensified monitoring and precautionary steps to combat the spread of the disease.
Hire Gowda, 82, a diabetic and hypertensive from Karnataka, passed away on March 1 from complications related to the H3N2 seasonal influenza subtype. A second fatality, a 56-year-old lung cancer patient, was reported from Haryana.
The ministry stated on Friday that there have been 451 confirmed cases of H3N2 in the country since January 2. It also added that it is closely monitoring the situation and that it anticipates a drop in reported cases by the end of the month.—Inputs from Agencies