Hyderabad: Dengue and swine flu have seen a rise in 2016-17 and continue to take their toll in the monsoon and winter seasons, according to National Health Profile. Deaths caused due to swine flu were 1786 in 2016 and increased to 2266 in 2017.
A senior officer in district health department in TS explained, “The swine flu was rampant in North India and Rajasthan and most of the travellers in those regions contracted it and brought to the state. Hence the disease was found in those with a history of travel to these places.”
There were 50 cases reported in 2016 and five deaths recorded. In 2017, there were more than 2,000 cases reported by the state. Dr K Narsimulu, professor of internal medicine explained, “Swine flu virus has now developed resistance in our body and hence the body is able to fight it. We will have to monitor this virus in 2018 too as there are chances of mutations.” Similarly dengue has also seen a major rise from 1,29,166 cases in 2016 to 1,57,996 cases in 2017.
