The Centre will send a three-member team to Kerala on Wednesday to study the increasing trend in the A(H1N1) influenza cases after the onset of monsoon in the State. The fresh outbreak has affected Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam districts.
There have been 16 deaths and 201 laboratory-confirmed cases in Kerala since May 15. The deaths include nine pregnant women.
The team of doctors includes Sunil Gupta, Joint Director (National Centre for Disease Control), Pradeep Khasnobis, epidemiologist, and B.V. Tandale, virologist.
The Centre has referred to a High Powered Committee the Kerala government's request for one lakh doses of vaccine for protecting pregnant women.
The bridging study of M/s Sanofi Pasteur or the clinical trials conducted by M/s Zydus Cadila did not include pregnant women. However, the inactivated pandemic influenza vaccine of M/s Sanofi Pasteur has been administered in Canada, the U.S., U.K. and other European countries to pregnant women, an official spokesperson said.
The State has also asked the Centre to facilitate distribution of A(H1N1) vaccine by M/s Zydus Cadila through their retail network in Kerala to ensure availability of the vaccine to the public. M/s Zydus Cadila has been contacted and they are in touch with the State government.
Kerala has earlier received 45,000 doses of the vaccine. The utilisation for health care workers is about 92 per cent.
