Jammu and Kashmir Reports Second Swine flu Death; 24,000 Affected in India

On Thursday, the second death resulting from the H1N1 Swine flu virus was reported from the northern most Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir, which is among the last of the Indian states to report swine flu infections.

The national death toll from the swine flu virus is now up to 831 with more than 24,000 people in all being infected with the highly contagious flu virus.

Maharashtra continues to have the highest number of fatalities, with 251 deaths. The national capital is another area from where there is a steady stream of news of swine flu infections. Out of the 137 new cases reported recently, as many as 59 are children and the total number of persons affected by swine flu in Delhi now stands at 8,888.

Meanwhile Australian researchers have confirmed the recommendation previously made by the World Health Organization, that for children, a one shot dose of the swine flu vaccine is likely to be enough. Although it is school aged children that have been targeted most by the swine flu virus owing to lower immune response to the infection, the Australian researchers have opined that one shot will be enough for children to build up immunity according to this DNA report.

According to experts, it is advisable to provide one dose to as many children as possible over the age of 6 months and under 10 years as possible. The vaccines have been seen to be safe for children as well as pregnant women; and the benefits from the vaccine are seen to far outweigh any risks. The researchers found that most of the adverse reactions to the vaccine were mild to moderate, but the immune responses were strong.

Though the WHO recommends that one shot is enough for children to build up an immune response to the Swine flu virus, a note of caution has been injected by the American National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP), Atlanta. “The immunogenicity data suggest that at least some children will be protected after a single 15-microgram dose, but the findings cannot be generalized to all children, which is why it is prudent to give two doses,” CDCP experts were reported as having said.

The swine flu vaccine is only likely to be available to Indians by about March 2010; they are not likely to reach Indian markets before that time according to the report.

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