Hospitals see 50% rise in viral fever cases, docs blame erratic temperature, humidity

The number of people coming in with flu-like symptoms has gone up by at least 50%, doctors at the Civil Hospital said. Patients are coming in with high fever, cough, runny nose, and respiratory infections, they said.

Hospitals across the city have registered an increase in the number of cases of viral fever over the past few weeks, doctors said. They blamed the varying temperatures, sudden heat and high humidity for the rise in such cases.

Doctors said they are witnessing both air-borne and water-borne viral infections. Air-borne viral infections include chickenpox and influenza. Water-borne ones are hepatitis, jaundice and diarrhoea. (Yogendra Kumar/HT PHOTO)

The number of people coming in with flu-like symptoms has gone up by at least 50%, doctors at the Civil Hospital said. Patients are coming in with high fever, cough, runny nose, and respiratory infections, they said.

Flu season tends to peak with monsoon rains and a sudden increase/decrease in temperature.

Environment is, however, only one factor that causes a spurt in viral infections, experts said, adding that the virus is highly contagious and can easily be transferred in crowded places. “Coughing and sneezing are some of the carriers of the virus. Avoid getting in contact with those who are down with the virus,” said Dr Amitabh Ghosh, internal medicine specialist at Columbia Asia Hospital.

Ghosh said the number of patients with viral fever in the hospital has doubled in a fortnight and that he is attending to almost 100 such patients every day.

A few patients across the city’s private hospitals were found to have symptoms of swine flu (H1N1 influenza) such as headache, chills and shortness of breath. However, the health department hasn’t confirmed any of them so far, officials said.

“Private hospitals brought to our notice a couple of cases where symptoms were similar to that of swine flu. But the tests were negative. There is nothing alarming and the situation is under control. The number of flu patients in the hospital has risen by at least 50% and we are seeing 60-70 patients daily in the past few weeks,” said Dr Naveen Kumar, physician at the Civil Hospital.

Experts said viral fever with a cough and runny nose doesn’t need much treatment, except rest and paracetamol.

However, if the fever doesn’t subside for three or more days and is high, one should visit a doctor as it could be a symptom of another disease.