The ongoing spell of heat has triggered a range of ailments in Kolkata.
Fever, lung congestion, cough and sore throat — the symptoms of viral infections that many in the city had suffered from during the last spell of heat in April have made a comeback, doctors said.
A number of patients have been found to have been infected with the adenovirus, which turned many children critical and even caused deaths earlier this year. This time, however, the strain is not so severe yet.
Hospitals are reporting admissions for lung congestion, which doctors said is being caused by viral infections.
A resident of Ballygunge is suffering from lung congestion, which has caused a sore throat and is triggering severe bouts of cough. “His sleep is getting affected because of the cough. Doctor has advised blood tests,” said the wife of the man in his mid-50s.
A 73-year-old woman has been suffering from fever, sore throat and headache for the last two days. “It was so hot that I drank chilled water three days back. Since then I have been running a temperature,” said the Kasba resident.
Kolkata had experienced a spell of intense dry heat between April 1 and 23, when the temperature crossed 40 degrees on multiple days.
The Telegraph reported that hundreds of people, mostly elderly, were suffering from fever, sore throat, lung congestion and other ailments, all caused by the unusual heat spell.
The city received rainfall on April 24, which brought the temperature down. But it is rising again as a weather system on the Bay of Bengal, which is set to intensify into a cyclone, is drawing hot air from India’s north and west, via Bengal.
Doctors said there has been a steady rise in the number of patients running a temperature over the past few days.
“On Tuesday, I got a man in his early 50s admitted with severe lung congestion. Tests for Covid-19 and influenza returned negative. The ailment seems to have been caused by some other virus,” said Saurabh Maji, consultant pulmonologist and critical care specialist at the RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences.
“On Wednesday evening, I got a call from a couple who were suffering from fever and cough. I have advised them to rest at home unless the condition is critical,” said Maji.
He also warned against taking antibiotics without medical advice.
“Many people take antibiotics if they have a sore throat or cough. In most cases these could be virus-induced conditions and they need symptomatic treatment,” he said.
Children are also getting affected by the resumption of the heat spell, said doctors.
“Many children are again being brought to the clinic with fever, throat and lung infections. In many cases, we are detecting adenovirus. There is a white patch in the throat that is usually caused by bacterial infections, but in these cases the cause is the adenovirus,” said Apurba Ghosh, director, Institute of Child Health, Kolkata.