On March 7 and March 8, a number of newspapers reported a surge in influenza (flu) instances within the Delhi-NCR area, with some mentioning the “spike” as over 54%. The supply of this information was an area survey (LocalCircle) of over 13,000 individuals within the Delhi-NCR area. While the estimate was not based mostly on medical testing however on widespread viral fever signs, and the press launch had solely talked about “viral illnesses (Covid/flu/viral fever)”, newspaper experiences attributed the “spike in cases” to influenza.
According to NCDC’s Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) information posted on February 27, 2025, there have been 516 influenza instances and six deaths in January this yr. The variety of flu instances throughout India for all of 2024 was 20,414 with 347 deaths. It is tough to say if the instances reported in January this yr are increased than the identical month final yr as IDSP doesn’t present segregated month-to-month information. Compared with IDSP, the U.S. CDC offers a weekly influenza surveillance report.
While influenza an infection does happen year-round in India, it peaks throughout monsoon season with a secondary peak throughout winter. As per a May 2023 Viewpoint within the Indian Journal of Medical Research, influenza causes “substantial disease and deaths” yearly in India. Acute respiratory an infection (ARI) surveillance between 2016 and 2018 by six centres unfold throughout India discovered 15.4% instances had been influenza, whereas 12.7% of extreme acute respiratory an infection (SARI) instances had been influenza. Estimating the variety of flu deaths is a problem as “routine testing for influenza is not done in clinical settings and influenza is rarely certified as a cause of death”.
By modelling ‘excess’ deaths utilizing dying information from the Sample Registration System and virological information from the influenza surveillance community of 10 labs throughout eight States from 2010-2013, a June 2020 paper estimated a imply of 1,27,092 influenza-associated respiratory and circulatory deaths per yr in India. Estimated flu-associated deaths was excessive amongst adults over 65 years and kids beneath 5 years. Yet, in accordance with the May 2018 tips for influenza vaccination issued by the Health Ministry, influenza vaccine is simply thought-about “desirable” for individuals older than 65 years and kids beneath 5 years.
WHO recommends the influenza strains for use within the vaccine for the approaching flu seasons months prematurely based mostly on the strains which might be at the moment circulating. On February 28, 2025, WHO introduced the suggestions for influenza vaccine composition for the 2025-2026 northern hemisphere influenza season. The suggestions made months earlier than the following flu season provides the producers adequate time to make vaccines. Though there are a couple of methods to make flu vaccines, together with cell-based and recombinant vaccines, the commonest technique is to make use of hen eggs to develop the virus strains. Egg-based vaccine manufacturing takes months to complete. Serum Institute’s influenza vaccine is egg-based, whereas Sanofi makes each egg-based and recombinant vaccines.
While most often the strains utilized in influenza vaccines match with the strains that flow into within the following season, at instances the match is just not excellent resulting in decreased vaccine effectiveness. “When vaccines are introduced, they represent strains identified from the previous year’s circulating viruses. While seasonal mismatches between WHO-declared strains and actual circulating strains can occur, no such mismatch has been reported this time. Currently, the circulating strain in north India is expected to align with the WHO-identified strains for the region,” Dr Rajeev Dhere, Senior Scientific Advisor, Serum Institute tells The Hindu.
As of February 15, 2025, for the 2024-25 season, an estimated 57 million doses of flu vaccine had been administered to adults within the U.S, and as of March 1, 2025, almost 47% of youngsters acquired a flu vaccine. Influenza vaccine uptake in India has been traditionally low. It has not elevated considerably regardless of a few of the worst flu outbreaks lately — 2015 recorded essentially the most variety of instances (42,592) and 2,990 deaths in India. Though not on the similar scale, there have been giant flu outbreaks since 2015 — in 2017 there have been 38,811 instances and 2,270 deaths, 28,798 instances and 1,218 deaths in 2019, and 20,414 instances and 347 deaths in 2024. Influenza vaccine is just not a part of India’s common immunisation programme.
As per the Health Ministry tips, healthcare staff “should be vaccinated”. The vaccine is “recommended” for pregnant girls, and kids and adults with continual diseases, whereas it’s “desirable” for adults older than 65 years and kids beneath 5 years regardless of the excessive mortality within the two excessive age teams. A 2022 examine discovered that only one.5% of adults aged 45 years or older had been ever vaccinated for influenza.
“Influenza vaccine uptake in India remains low (less than 5%). While the market has shown significant year-on-year growth, overall coverage remains inadequate due to low public awareness and the absence of widespread programmes. We have observed an increased uptake of flu vaccines in India with the market growing by 21% in 2025 vs 2024,” says a Sanofi spokesperson. Serum manufactures 3,00,000-4,00,000 doses and can scale as much as over 1,000,000 relying on the demand, Dr. Dhere says.
Published – March 23, 2025 12:00 am IST
