The fluctuating Celsius has triggered a spurt in fever cases in the city, said doctors.
A large number of Kolkatans have been reporting to doctor’s clinics with fever for the last couple of weeks.
Several doctors said that this was a result of upper respiratory tract infection in most of these people owing to fluctuations in temperature and humidity.
Amitabha Saha, an internal medicine and critical care specialist, said in the last few days, more than 50 per cent of patients who came to his clinics with fever were found to have upper respiratory tract infection.
“A large number of people are coming to the clinics with upper respiratory tract infections. The symptoms include fever that is usually staying in the range of 100 or 101 degrees Fahrenheit. In few people, the fever is going up to 102 degrees,” said Saha, who is attached with Medica Superspecialty Hospital.
“The other symptoms include running nose, sneezing, coughing, scratchy throat and headache,” added Saha.
Doctors said that such infections were common during this time of the year and again when winter recedes.
“The fluctuations in temperature and humidity usually aid in upper respiratory tract infections,” said a doctor.
The mercury in the city has been going up and down since the last few days. A trough of low pressure from Tamil Nadu to Gangetic Bengal has led to significant moisture incursion into the city. The moisture in the air has stalled the flow of cold and dry north-westerly winds into the city.
The minimum temperature had been hovering around 18 degrees, three notches below normal, a week ago. On Saturday, it was 23.3 degrees, three notches above normal. If the past couple of days have been relatively warm, Sunday was gloomy and damp.
The thick cloud cover and light rain dragged the day temperature down. The minimum relative humidity, which had been in the 30-40 per cent range a few days ago, was 66 per cent on Sunday.
According to doctors, the conditions were ideal for fever and children were especially vulnerable.
Paediatrician Apurba Ghosh said children were also suffering from the upper respiratory tract infection.
“Most fever cases that I am encountering among children are viral fever. There are examples where the child is having fever but the parents have no fever. In such cases it is most likely that the child is suffering from some kind of viral fever,” said Ghosh, the director of Institute of Child Health, Kolkata.
Ghosh also said that the most common symptoms were fever and runny nose.
“I will advise everyone to wear a mask even if they have viral infection fever. This is because wearing a mask will prevent the viral infection from spreading to others coming in contact with the infected person,” added Ghosh.
The cloudy and overcast conditions are likely to persist for at least a couple of days, according to the Met forecast. “Rain and thunderstorms are likely in south Bengal on Monday. But the clouds will persist even after that. The moisture content is also likely to be on the higher side,” said a Met official.