Delhi hosps witnessing spike in H3N2 cases: Docs

New Delhi: Delhi hospitals are witnessing a spike in cases of H3N2 virus that triggers symptoms like fever, cold and body aches, but in certain cases, leaves behind persistent cough making patients extremely weak, doctors said. There has been a nearly 150 per cent rise in patients coming to OPDs with such complaints, they said.

Elaborating about the possible reasons behind the surge, Dr Viny Kantroo, Consultant, Respiratory, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine Consultant, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, said the outbreak could have been triggered due to seasonal change, mutation of virus and the economy being fully open.

“Children are going to school and they are transmitting it to the elderly. A lot of cross-country travel is happening. In the last two years, Covid was the dominant virus and there were restrictions but with relaxation of norms and return of normalcy, these outbreaks are being observed,” she opined.

Delhi government’s LNJP Hospital has set up a 20-bed isolation ward in the emergency block for such patients.

In accordance with the ICMR guidelines, we have done so and also stocked up medicines. A 15-doctor team has been constituted to monitor the patients, said a senior doctor. Dr Rajiva Gupta, Senior Consultant - Internal medicine at the CK Birla Hospital, Gurugram and Delhi, said the ILI (Influenza like illness) cases have seen a spike in the last few days.

“For instance, if we were seeing two to three patients in OPDs last month, this month there is one-and-a-half times rise. The symptoms are fever, discomfort, cold, body aches. In some cases, patients also experienc abdominal discomfort, diarrhoea, and even fullness in ears,” he added.