Hospitals across the national capital are registering a rise in the number of viral infection cases owing to change in weather, doctors said. The doctors have also cautioned against self-medication and advised consulting a medical practitioner in time if one experiences symptoms of seasonal flu. Dr Vikramjit Singh, senior consultant, internal medicine of the Akash Healthcare Super Specialty Hospital in Dwarka said their facility has been receiving eight cases of viral infection every day. Dr Manoj Sharma, senior consultant, internal medicine, Fortis Hospital at Vasant Kunj said every second patient coming to them has viral infection.
"They present with cold, cough, fever and in some cases, nausea, vomiting and loose motions. The fever is high grade touching 102-103 degrees Celsius. Keeping oneself hydrated helps in controlling the fever," Sharma said. Singh said the viral illness cases are more this year maybe because of the changing weather with extreme heat and excessive rainfall.
"People are coming with high-grade fever and dry cough which lasts for three to four days. If treated on time, it can go on the second day of the fever. "People should stay indoors, maintain hygiene, wash hands, social distancing has to be maintained, the use of the mask can also lower the chances of viral to spread. The symptoms of viral illness are fever, sore throat, cold, running nose and headache," he added.
In many cases, after patients develop fever or cough, they also have a fear that they have contracted the coronavirus, Sharma said, adding those who have not been infected with Covid during the previous waves and have not been vaccinated usually feel that are positive. "We screen patients for COVID-19 through the RT-PCR test. Usually we can make out whether the patient has coronavirus or not seeing the symptoms. If the patient has running nose, excessive wheezing, they usually point towards viral infection but if the patient has throat pain, it is a symptom of COVID-19. But till now, we haven't had such patients," he said.
Dr Rajesh Chawla, senior consultant, pulmonology and critical care, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, said if seven patients of a family are having same symptoms, we screen them for coronavirus and if two of them test negative, it means that they are not infected with the virus. Dr Shuchin Bajaj, Founder and Director, Ujala Cygnus Group of Hospitals, said "With the onset of the hot and humid season, and water logging at multiple places, there are increasing numbers of flu patients. We are seeing a rapid uptake of other infectious diseases like dengue and malaria as well. "The flu is almost same as Covid, but has a slightly different presentation in the fact that Coryza is much more overwhelming than in Covid and loss of smell and breathlessness is not as much prevalent as is prevalent in coronavirus." Dr Sanjay Gupta, senior consultant, internal medicine, Paras Hospitals in Gurgaon, said there are a lot of patients who are coming to us with viral infection in this season. "I have an OPD of around 30 to 35 patients per day and about 40 per cent of patients are coming to us with viral infections mainly viral sore throat and lower respiratory tract infections caused by a virus influenza A. Around 40 per cent of such patients are being seen in our clinic." Elaborating on the symptoms, he said they usually present with high fever, malaise, lethargy, bony pains, stomach ache, nausea, vomiting, and very very high fever, sweating etc.
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