Comments
Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, surge in viral cases is adding to the woes of people in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi as hospitals across these two States are registering a rise in the number of patients affected with viral fever. Taking cognisance of the situation, the UP Government on Saturday said it has reserved Covid-19-dedicated beds equipped with oxygen for the treatment of viral diseases including dengue.
“Yes, there is an increase in viral infections, predominantly influenza (Flu) and swine flu. They are coming with high grade fever with Coryza and also elderly with secondary chest infections and pneumonia. Of all the patients in OPD, approximately 30-35 per cent suffer from viral infections. Even wards and ICUs are almost running full,” Vikas Maurya, Director and HOD, Pulmonology, Fortis Hospital, Shalimar Bagh told BusinessLine .
“We are getting a lot of patients; approximately five patients daily from the beginning of August with viral symptoms but luckily people aren’t requiring admissions. The viral symptoms are mainly upper respiratory symptoms but we have some patients who are having viral diarrhoea also and oxygen requirement is very minimal for such patients,” Rakesh Pandit, Senior Consultant and Head of Department, Internal Medicine, Aakash Healthcare and Superspeciality Hospitality, Dwarka, said.
“There are very few cases that turned out to be dengue cases but they weren’t at an alarming proportion. The situation seems to be very critical for kids in some parts of the State. People are getting admitted for extreme throat pain, fever that is lasting for more than a week and which shows no response to antibiotics or anti inflammatory drugs. The cases are coming in good numbers for viral fever but luckily they are not very severe,” Pandit further added.
Avoid junk food
According to Pandit, people should avoid eating junk food, cold water and cold edibles. He further added that one should use a mask in case of fever and any other symptoms and should maintain hygiene. They should wash hands often and maintain a nutritious diet while drinking enough amount of water, he said.
According to Maurya, influenza vaccine should be administered to high-risk populations like elderly, children or those with comorbidities.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.