New Delhi, March 12 (IANS) A Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) report claiming that the swine flu virus in India may have mutated and become severely infectious needs to be studied thoroughly before being accepted, Indian health experts said on Thursday.
"This is a new study. We need to go through it and research properly. It is important to know how they reached the conclusion. It will take at least one-to-two days' time to go through the study, only then I can comment on it," S.K. Sharma, director, Directorate of Health Services (DHS) told IANS.
The study by a team of Indian-origin scientists at the US university says that swine flu has killed over 1,500 people and infected more than 27,000 people in India and the virus has acquired mutations that make it more dangerous than previously circulating strains of H1N1 influenza.
The findings, reported in the scientific journal Cell Host and Microbe, contradict previous reports from Indian health officials that the strain has not changed from the version of H1N1 that emerged in 2009 and has been circulating around the world ever since.
Mutation is a permanent change of the nucleotide sequence of the genome of an organism, virus, or extra-chromosomal DNA or other genetic elements.
N.K. Mehra, former dean, research, at All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) said it was important to study the MIT report before coming to any conclusion. "It will be too early to comment now without going through the report properly," he said.
A senior official of the health ministry also said that the issue will be discussed with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) before coming to any conclusion.
The flu virus in India seems to have acquired mutations that could spread more readily, the scientist have warned in the study.
Lucknow: The Yogi government of Uttar Pradesh presented a budget of 5 lakh 50 thousand 270 crore
Ravi Teja is one of the most popular actors in Telugu cinema. He will soon be seen in Ravanasur.
After imposing a lot of sanctions on Russia during the Ukraine war, America is now going to tight
730 doctors died in the second wave of the corona, know which state killed the most doctors
The Indian Medical Association has informed that 730 doctors have died in the second wave of the
Coronavirus India: figure of 60 thousand infected in the country, around 2000 died
new Delhi. Coronavirus India, Corona virus cases are increasing rapidly in the country. So far, 6
Congress again raises issue of Masrat Alam's release
New Delhi, March 11 (IANS) The Congress party on Wednesday again raised in the Lok Sabha the is
While protests are taking place across the country regarding the scheme 'Agneepath' brought by th
The country is once again witnessing an increase in corona cases. On Friday, a decrease of 4 thou
The discussion began on Tuesday after a deadlock continued during the budget session of Parliamen
On Wednesday, the government can give the gift of Holi to the central employees. A report has rai