Living With The Flu

Driven by a cold winter, pollution and post-Covid complacency, influenza infections in India are rising each season, with longer duration of symptoms that are turning severe for the elderly

- SONALI ACHARJEE

For most people, getting the flu' has been a minor health hazard, a seasonal curveball with a bouquet of well-known symptoms-fever, cough, headache, body ache, runny nose, sore throat to be met with adequate rest and mild medication. Currently, however, doctors across India are reporting not just an extended flu-season but also abnormalities in terms of differing symptoms and a quick relapse. In response to the rising influenza infections, in January 2024, the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) recommended use of the 2024 quadrivalent influenza vaccine that offers protection against two strands of Influenza A and two of Influenza B viruses.

But just what is the common but poorly understood malaise called influenza? It is a respiratory infection that spreads through droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes. It is caused by four kinds of viruses, classified simply as A, B, C and D. While both A and B viruses circulate and cause seasonal epidemics, only type A are known to have caused pandemics. Influenza A viruses are further classified into sub-types A(H1N1) and A(H3N2). You might also recognise A(H1N1) by its other name-A (H1N1) pdm09, as it caused the flu pandemic in 2009, replacing the older A(H1N1) virus, or 'swine flu', as it can infect both pigs and humans, though the last term has fallen out of usage now. Type B viruses belong to either the Yamagata or Victoria lineage, their names derived from locations where each strain was first isolated. An NCDC report highlights the presence of A(H1N1)pdm09, A(H3N2) and B/ Victoria lineage strains in India, all three of which are causing the current round of infections.