Swine flu, dengue cases rise in Delhi; doctors say no need to panic

Dengue cases have also started going up in the Capital and so far Delhi has reported 82 patients this year.

With the change in weather in the national capital, hospitals in Delhi have been witnessing a sudden spike in seasonal flu, swine flu and dengue cases in the last few days. An official survey shows that as many as 41 per cent of households in the national capital were surveyed wherein one or more members of the family were suffering from flu-like symptoms. Till July 31, only two cases of swine flu were reported in Delhi. The number has increased to 60 within just four weeks till August 25.

Experts say that flu doesn't have very serious consequences but those who have comorbid conditions need to be careful. (HT File Photo)

"Most of the cases are normal flu cases. The symptoms are typically in upper and lower respiratory tract related symptoms. Many a time, when we have done the flow panel for the patients or when we have done swine flu test, we have found that at least 2 per cent to 3 per cent of patients coming up positive with swine flu reports," Dr Ashish Khattar, a senior consultant of internal medicine at Venkateshwar Hospital, was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Dr Khattar said that this time the crowd has increased in several areas and hence such cases have gone up. "It happens every year. But, this time, the frequency and the number of cases are much more. One reason is that there is a sudden surge of an outbreak of crowds outside. There has been a lot of footfall at the marketplaces, the hospital OPDs are full, people are probably not following the Covid-19 behaviour norms and there is barely any social distancing norm being practised, as per my observation," he added.

Experts say that flu doesn't have very serious consequences but those who have comorbid conditions need to be careful. "It doesn't lead to very serious consequences. In most of the cases, unless you have underlying comorbid conditions, most of the times the patient would have just cough cold, fever, body aches, headache, runny nose, sneezing as complex symptoms," Dr MS Kanwar of Apollo Hospitals' department of pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine told ANI.

Dr Rommel Tickoo, the director of internal medicine at Max Healthcare, said that many patients are coming to the hospital with flu-like symptoms, high fever, body ache, cough and cold and most of them are recovering in five to seven days with symptomatic treatments.

Dr Tickoo added that people should not panic and should take all the required precautionary measures to protect themselves. "Swine flu symptoms are similar to those of Covid-19. However, there is no need to panic. But, yes you have to get tested for Covid-19. Almost everyone is recovering without any hospitalisation nowadays. We still have to take precautions. Follow Covid-19 protocols by wearing the masks, stay away from crowded places etc," he said.

Dengue cases have also started going up in the Capital and so far Delhi has reported 82 patients this year. Out of these, 32 cases have come in the last one month. According to the data of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, 30 cases of dengue have been reported in the national capital in the last 23 days.