Lok Sabha Question No. 4853 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-31
Subject: Rising Cases of H3N2
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Sanjay Sadashivrao Mandlik, Sudheer Gupta, Ramesh Chander Kaushik, Sambhajirao Mane Dhairyasheel, Bidyut Baran Mahato, Prataprao  Jadhav, Shrirang Appa Barne

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4853 TO BE ANSWERED ON 31.03.2023

## RISING CASES OF H3N2

## 4853.  SHRI SANJAY SADASHIVRAO MANDLIK:

SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA:

SHRI RAMESH CHANDER KAUSHIK:

SHRI DHAIRYASHEEL SAMBHAJIRAO MANE:

SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO:

SHRI PRATAPRAO JADHAV:

SHRI SHRIRANG APPA BARNE:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has held any meeting to review the rising number of H3N2 influenza cases across the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and the outcome of the said meeting;
- (c) whether the Government has issued any directions to the State Governments in this regard and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) the total number of influenza cases reported in the country at present, State/UTwise;
- (e) the details of deaths due to said influenza reported in the country along with the steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to check the spread thereof; and
- (f) whether the Government has sanctioned and released any fund to develop advanced testing laboratories and related facility for testing of influenza in the country and if so, the steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (DR. BHARATI PRAVIN PAWAR)

- (a) to (f):

Union  Health  Ministry  monitors  the  public  health  situation  and  reviews  with  all States/UTs and concerned Central Ministries/Departments/Organisations on a regular basis.

Union  Health  Ministry  has  recently  also  issued  an  Advisory  to  States/UTs  to  take necessary steps which includes:

- o Closely follow the trend of Influenza-like illness/Severe Acute Respiratory Infections (ILI/SARI) in respective areas, monitor the proportion of SARI cases among all ILI& SARI cases and refer sufficient number of samples for testing for Influenza, SARS-CoV-2 etc.
- o Raise community awareness regarding adherence to respiratory and hand hygiene  (like  covering  one's  mouth  and  nose  with  a  tissue/elbow  when coughing or sneezing, avoiding spitting in public places, preferably use of mask in crowded environments, frequent hand wash etc.), promoting early reporting of symptoms, and limiting contact, if suffering from respiratory illness.
- o Widely disseminate technical guidelines for Seasonal Influenza (https://main.mohfw.gov.in/basicpage/technical-guidelines), COVID-19 (https://mohfw.gov.in)  etc.  which  have  also  been  made  available  on  the website of this Ministry
- o Implement  'Operational  Guidelines  for  Revised  Surveillance  Strategy  in Context  of  COVID-19'  which  provides  for  integrated  surveillance  of respiratory pathogens  presenting as cases of ILI/SARI  available  at: https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/OperationalGuidelinesforRevisedSurveilla nceStrategyincontextofCOVID-19.pdf.
- o Take stock of hospital preparedness including drugs, medical equipment, capacity  building  of  human  resource  on  existing  guidelines  as  well  as vaccination coverage against COVID-19 and Influenza.

As  per  information  provided  by  States/UTs,  a  total  1350  cases  of  H3N2(details  at annexure) and 05 deaths (01 each from Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra and Puducherry) have been reported from 1 st January 2023 to 27 th March 2023.

To  ensure  adequate  infrastructure  at  district  level,  Government  of  India  provides financial assistance to all States/UTs under National Health Mission for strengthening public health care systems including setting up new health facilities and infrastructure upgradation under various schemes.

With an aim to better prepare the country for any future public health emergencies, PM Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM) has been launched with an outlay of Rs. 64,180 crores which aims to support states in terms of setting up of

Integrated public health labs, surveillance network, establishing critical care blocks & upgrading research infrastructure. Union Health Ministry has released Rs 584.04 Cr in 2021-2022 and for the financial year 2022-23, Rs 4,176.84 Cr has been allocated under PM-ABHIM.

*****

|   S. No. | States/UTs          |   Total Cases |
|----------|---------------------|---------------|
|        1 | Andaman &Nicobar    |             0 |
|        2 | Andhra Pradesh      |            12 |
|        3 | Arunachal Pradesh   |             0 |
|        4 | Assam               |             1 |
|        5 | Bihar               |             1 |
|        6 | Chandigarh          |             2 |
|        7 | Chhattisgarh        |             3 |
|        8 | Dadra &Nagar Haveli |             0 |
|        9 | Daman &Diu          |             0 |
|       10 | Delhi               |           370 |
|       11 | Goa                 |             2 |
|       12 | Gujarat             |            12 |
|       13 | Haryana             |            15 |
|       14 | Himachal Pradesh    |             2 |
|       15 | Jammu &Kashmir      |             6 |
|       16 | Jharkhand           |             6 |
|       17 | Karnataka           |           134 |
|       18 | Kerala              |            60 |
|       19 | Ladakh              |             0 |
|       20 | Lakshadweep         |             0 |
|       21 | Madhya Pradesh      |             2 |
|       22 | Maharashtra         |           184 |
|       23 | Manipur             |             0 |
|       24 | Meghalaya           |             0 |
|       25 | Mizoram             |             0 |
|       26 | Nagaland            |             0 |
|       27 | Odisha              |            32 |
|       28 | Puducherry          |           125 |
|       29 | Punjab              |            26 |
|       30 | Rajasthan           |           222 |
|       31 | Sikkim              |             0 |
|       32 | Tamil Nadu          |            83 |
|       33 | Telangana           |             0 |
|       34 | Tripura             |             4 |
|       35 | Uttarakhand         |             7 |
|       36 | Uttar Pradesh       |            19 |
|       37 | West Bengal         |            20 |

## Annexure