(ORDO NEWS) — Health officials in New Delhi have registered more than 15 cases of the H1N1 virus, known as swine flu, in the past two weeks.
This was reported on Saturday by the Hindustan Times, citing information received from the city’s health department.
Because the symptoms of H1N1 are similar to those of COVID-19, and most people with such symptoms are not tested for H1N1, the actual number of swine flu infections could be much higher, doctors said.
Dr. Rajesh Chawla, senior consultant at the city’s renowned Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, explained to the publication that he sees at least two to three patients with H1N1 infection daily, two of whom are currently in critical condition and are on a ventilator.
Chawla urged anyone who is experiencing symptoms of the disease (fever, sore throat, nasal congestion, difficulty breathing, headache and muscle aches) but has tested negative for COVID-19 to get tested for H1N1.
“Because the symptoms are almost the same, and there are not many distinguishing factors, H1N1 can be easily confused with COVID or seasonal flu,” the medic said.
India has been fighting swine flu since 2005, when the first few cases were reported in the country.
The largest number of victims of the disease so far was noted in late 2014 – early 2015, when about 3 thousand people died from this infection in the country, and the number of people infected was 42 thousand.
Doctors do not exclude that swine flu in India could mutate into a more dangerous form of the disease.
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