Doctors expected the rise in mercury levels to lower intensity of swine flu incidence in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and elsewhere in the country in the last week. But this did not happen on the expected lines, raising another puzzling aspect of the current sweep of H1N1 virus in some parts of the country.
In Telangana, since the virus started claiming lives from mid-December, 66 people have died so far. The State, however, saw a fall in the number of deaths from the peak of five to six last month.
“From the beginning of this month, over 3,245 samples have been tested, out of which 1,068 have been found to be positive. The number of deaths due to swine flu and related complications are 46,” a bulletin issued by the State Government said.
The number of positive cases reported in the last six days registered a dip in intensity, the bulletin added.
Reports from New Delhi claimed that incidence of swine flu was continuing unabated with 1,608 cases reported this season, while in Gujarat the death toll rose to 150 since January.
“We expected the intensity to dip from the first week of February, but this did not happen as expected. It is puzzling how the virus continues to spread despite rise in temperatures, which are known to reduce the intensity of several circulating viruses in the air,” K Narasimhalu of Gandhi Hospital here told Business Line.
He wanted the State Government and the Centre to initiate a research into the on-going sweep of swine flu in several parts of the country.