9-fold rise in swine flu cases as India's response system falters

So far this year, H1N1 or swine flu has infected 18,000 people and killed 871, a nine-fold rise over the 1,786 cases and 265 deaths reported last year.

Two years after a massive outbreak in 2015 that infected 42,500 people and killed almost 3,000, India’s response remains inadequate.

Seasonal flu vaccination is not part of India’s national vaccination policy, and a public database that could measure the magnitude, year-to-year variations, strains, risk factors, etc. of the virus has not been properly maintained.

Doctors say young children, the elderly and those with preexisting chronic