Viral outbreak in Calcutta, most are flu cases: Patients complain of fever, body ache, headache, cold, cough

 A good number of them are school-going children who doctors said possibly caught the infection in a classroom

Subhajoy Roy, TT, Calcutta, 10.07.24 : Several Calcuttans are suffering from viral infections and doctors said some of them were taking more than seven days to recuperate.

A good number of them are school-going children who doctors said possibly caught the infection in a classroom.

Fever, severe body ache, headache, cold and cough are some of the common symptoms, said doctors.

A doctor added that he has also advised dengue tests to some patients who came with similar symptoms, barring respiratory symptoms like cold, cough and sneezing.

“About ten per cent of patients coming to my clinic had these symptoms. This time, many of the patients have severe body ache,” said Chandramouli Bhattacharya, an infectious diseases specialist at Peerless Hospital.

While most patients have mild fever, some of the infected people have fever going up to 102 or 103 degrees Fahrenheit, he said.

“Most of these cases are infections caused by the influenza virus. Most of the test results have turned out to be positive for influenza. Flu is very common during this time of the year in south Bengal, which is why those who take the flu vaccine are advised to take it in June,” said Bhattacharya.

Owing to the nature of the illness — most of the cases are self-limiting — doctors are not advising tests to most adults.

But influenza tests are advised to many adults as it has a definitive treatment.

“The tests to find out the type of virus causing the infection is quite costly. Also barring influenza, other viral infections have no defined treatment. The treatment for most viral infections is mostly symptomatic,” said a doctor.

A Salt Lake resident said his wife has fever since Monday. “She is running a temperature of 102 degrees. She also has a cough and cold,” he said.

A south Calcutta resident has had to skip office for the last two days owing to fever.

“There is a feeling of extreme weakness. I am struggling to walk or get up from the bed. My doctor has advised rest for at least three more days,” he said.

Doctors said the most of the infections are self-limiting and people were recuperating in seven to ten days. In some people, the cough is persisting for 10 days or a little more, said doctors.

Bhattacharya added that some people, especially the elderly and those with comorbidities, also required hospital admission.

A doctor at a clinic run by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) said large numbers of schoolchildren were also falling prey to similar infections.

“A lot of school-going children are coming with symptoms like fever, headache, cold and cough. It seems many children are catching the infection from school. Nearly 50 per cent of the new patients in our clinic are coming with these symptoms,” said Soma Laha, the medical officer of mayor’s health clinic run by the KMC.

Amitabha Saha, head of critical care at Manipal Hospitals, Mukundapur, said about 20 per cent of people visiting his clinic were coming with similar symptoms. Some of the symptoms of the ongoing viral fever outbreak are also identical to the symptoms of dengue.

Saha said he had advised dengue tests to some of the patients who had come with symptoms like fever, headache, body ache but did not have respiratory symptoms.

“Most of the patients have so far tested negative for dengue,” he said.

Sources in the KMC said a little more than 100 dengue cases were reported in the city between January and last week.

“We are conducting regular visits to all neighbourhoods, conducting awareness drives and destroying mosquito breeding sites,” said a KMC official.