MIT swine flu report to be studied: Indian experts


Posted on 14th Mar 2015 10:04 am by mohit kumar

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.

0 Like 0 Dislike
Previous news Next news
Other news

SBI report: RBI may increase repo rate by 0.25 percent from June, preparing for change in liberal stance

The Reserve Bank of India may increase the repo rate by half a percent in the coming two monetary

Ruckus in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly today too, Marshall dragged Khurshid Sheikh out amidst the scuffle.

There was a ruckus on the fifth day of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly i.e. today (8 November). Th

DC vs GT: 'We could have won this match but...', David Warner became emotional after the defeat in the match, told where the mistake happened

David Warner Appreciates Sai Sudharsan, DC vs GT, IPL 2023. Delhi Capitals, captained by David Wa

Katheria calls for better management at Taj Mahal

Agra, March 23 (IANS) Minister of State for Human Resource Development (HRD) Ram Shankar Kather

ECI: Migrant voters will not need to go to their home state in elections, and can vote anywhere

The Election Commission on Thursday said it has developed a prototype of a remote electronic voti

Rs.1,391-crore budgetary support for Bengaluru infrastructure

Bengaluru, March 13 (IANS) With an eye to the upcoming elections to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahana

Navy Day 2021: Now Enemies Are Not Well! Navy chief said 10-year roadmap ready, India will soon have indigenous unmanned systems

On Friday, just a day before the Indian Navy Day, the new Chief of the Navy, Admiral R Hari Kumar

Dilip Patil to be Maharashtra's home minister, replaced by Anil Deshmukh on charges of recovery

Dilip Valse Patil may be the new Home Minister of Maharashtra. He will take over the post followi

Sanjay Nirupam: 'Expulsion action after resignation', Sanjay Nirupam's counterattack after being expelled from Congress

Former MP Sanjay Nirupam on Thursday took a dig at the Congress leadership over his expulsion fro

Bihar Election 2025: Will Amit Shah discuss seat sharing and candidates for the Bihar elections today? The agenda of the meeting decided.

Amit Shah, former national president of the Bharatiya Janata Party and currently the organization

Sign up to write
Sign up now if you have flare of writing..
Login   |   Register
Follow Us
Indyaspeak @ Facebook Indyaspeak @ Twitter Indyaspeak @ Pinterest RSS



Play Free Quiz and Win Cash