Retrospective Study of Swine Flu cases reported in a Medical College in Chandigarh

Abstract

Introduction: Influenza viruses, in particular, are highly unstable and are the etiological agents of the pandemics till date. In last decade, H1N1 reappeared as a serious threat as the swine flu pandemic of 2009. However, it was not zoonotic swine flu as the previous pandemics, but airborne droplets were documented as source of infection amongst humans. Aims and Objective: To analyse retrospectively the H1N1 cases reported in a medical college in Chandigarh from 2016 to 2021 and understand the epidemiology of the disease. Methodology: The nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal samples of 920 patients who reported with influenza-like illnesses were collected after taking complete history. The samples were tested using real time PCR technique. Results: Out of 920 samples, 156 (16.93%) tested positive for H1N1 swine flu. The positivity rate was higher in females (9.13%) than males (7.83%). The most common symptoms reported in the positive cases were fever (92.31%) and cough (89.10%) followed by breathlessness (66.67%). Conclusion: H1N1 infection along with COVID-19 should be considered as the differential diagnosis for patients who present with influenza like illness or seasonal common respiratory diseases.

Keywords: H1N1, epidemiology, influenza like illness