70 infected with mutated swine flu strain during a week

Hyderabad: 70 people were reportedly found to be infected with the newly-mutated `Michigan’ strain of the H1N1virus, detected in the city two months ago. Experts fear that the worst is yet to come and they identify the mid-winter period as the peak swine flu season.

As reported by the TOI, the Michigan strain (A/Michigan/45/2015) was detected in three samples from Hyderabad in July.

Doctors worry that the number of H1NI cases may shoot up drastically by the end of the year. With presently 160200 samples being tested each day at the Institute of Preventive Medicine, the IPM is already flooded with a large number of `suspected’ swine flu samples. On an average, daily 10-17 samples test positive for the virus. Out of the 10903 samples tested between January 1 to September 4, 1,770 were found positive. 17 succumbed to the disease during the period.

Hoping that the virus has not turned more virulent, a senior official from the health department told that “Most of the deaths were reported from among patients who already had co-morbid conditions when attacked by the swine flu virus. Patients with normal immunity have been able to recover completely.”