India may face a major disaster in the coming days, opine experts, if apposite measures are not taken to quell the spate of A/H1N1 flu. What is the current status of A/H1N1 flu in India then? According to the recent statement of the Indian Health Ministry, the cases of A/H1N1 flu have increased to 59 after three more people were tested positive for the flu virus on Sunday. What’s more, a couple in the southern city of Chennai and a teenage boy in New Delhi Sunday tested positive for the flu.

You may be at a loss because of going through these. Well, A/H1N1 flu, as stated by medial experts, is lethal and it can lead to serious consequences if proper measures are not taken.

Influenza A(H1N1) virus is basically a subtype of influenzavirus A and it also happens to be the most common cause of influenza (flu) in humans. Some strains of H1N1 are endemic in humans and cause a small fraction of all influenza-like illness and a large fraction of all seasonal influenza. It should be kept in mind that H1N1 strains caused more or less half of all human flu infections in 2006.

It was in June 2009, when WHO declared that flu as a result of a new strain of swine-origin H1N1 was responsible for the 2009 flu pandemic. This strain is commonly called “swine flu” by the public media.

On the other hand Influenza A virus strains are categorized according to two proteins found on the surface of the virus: hemagglutinin (H) and neuraminidase (N). All influenza A viruses contain hemagglutinin and neuraminidase, but the structure of these proteins differ from strain to strain on account of rapid genetic mutation in the viral genome.

Influenza A virus strains are allocated an H number and an N number based on which forms of these two proteins the strain contains. There are 16 H and 9 N subtypes known in birds, but only H 1, 2 and 3, and N 1 and 2 are generally found in humans.