Overlapping symptoms of dengue and Covid confusing in many cases: Doctors

New Delhi: Amid a spike in dengue cases in the national Capital, many people down with viral infection are exhibiting "overlapping symptoms" of COVID-19 and the vector-borne disease, leaving both patients and doctors perplexed about the exact diagnosis.

Cases of vector-borne diseases are usually reported between July and November, sometimes stretching till mid-December.

Its symptoms include high fever, headache, rash and muscle and joint pain, which are quite similar to that of COVID-19 which also includes fever or chills, muscle or body aches, fatigue and headache among others.

In such a situation it has become difficult to ascertain whether a person suffering from fever, body ache and headache is Covid positive or not, doctors said.

"Covid cases are declining right now, but the virus is still there. I am still seeing Covid cases in my OPD. In the last 3-4 days, two cases were detected in OPD and one later in an ICU. However, on an average, dengue infection is on rise right now," said Dr Suranjit Chatterjee, a senior consultant at Apollo Hospitals.

"There are a few overlapping symptoms when it comes to both dengue and Covid, such as fever, bodyache and headache, and in such cases diagnosis cannot be that black and white. So, we are prescribing both Covid and dengue test to ascertain the exact infection. In fact, in some cases, even malaria and typhoid tests are also being done," he said.

However, if a patient is suffering more from sore throat and cough and their fever is not very high, then Covid infection is more probable. So, a dengue test is not being prescribed in cases "where we can differentiate from the nature of symptoms," Chatterjee added.

Doctors at many government and private hospitals are reporting a rise in footfall in OPDs after a continuous spike in dengue cases in Delhi in the past two weeks. Most of the patients are complaining of fever, cough, sore throat and body ache or headache or both.

Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital - Delhi government's largest hospital and the main COVID-19 facility - is also reporting dengue cases with some of the patients being admitted after their platelets level had fallen beyond the normal range.

Dengue fever can result in a drop in white blood cell and platelet counts. The normal platelet count in the body ranges from 1.5 to 4 lacs, which can go down to as low as 20,000 to 40,000 in the case of dengue patients.

Over 520 dengue cases have been reported in Delhi this year till September 21, as

per the data shared by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).