Doctors worried after people fall sick due to combination of viruses

Kolkata: A combination of seasonal viruses, influenza A, dengue, malaria and swine flu are affecting people of all ages in Kolkata with many children complaining of high fever. There has been a spurt in influenza-like symptoms among the masses in the past few weeks with the fluctuating weather contributing towards infection as a catalyst, warned the city doctors.

A senior physician in the city, Dr S Biswas said that due to a three-pronged attack by dengue-malaria-flu, fever has become common in most houses. What is common in them is that if one member of a family is affected with fever, the other family members are also getting affected one after the other. Physicians are often in a fix to determine which virus has triggered the ailments.

"Doctors can often identify the nature of ailments and possible causes which might have triggered them with the help of symptoms even before conducting a test on the patients. Tests are done to confirm the causes. But now, it has become extremely difficult to do a preliminary diagnosis of the causes of fever as multiple factors are determining the infections. Doctors are therefore safely prescribing paracetamols," added Dr Biswas. Other than viral infections, enteric, typhoid and scrub-typhus cases have also been reported from various pockets. Malaria, which is caused by parasites, triggers high temperatures like that of dengue. Typhoid, which is commonly found and caused by bacteria, often turns fatal.

"Viral fever is often triggering high temperatures in patients. A cold sponge can be given within 30 minutes after the fever shoots up. The method must be applied in the case of children. When Covid was at its peak, the majority of viral infections were Covid but other viral infections are now predominant as Covid has become milder," said Dr Gopeswar Mukherjee, a senior pathologist.