Kalamassery hotspot of dengue cases in districtDiscover the latest dengue outbreak in Ernakulam district, Kerala, with a focus on Kalamassery municipality.
While diarrhoea and abdominal pain was always there as accompanying symptoms in a few cases, fever was always the most prominent symptom.
Several doctors TOI spoke to, however, said they had noticed dengue patients with only mild fever, but pronounced ADD, in the last couple of weeks.
"We are getting reports of dengue patients who don't have acute fever, but with ADD," said a health official.
"Microbiologist Asis Manna, a former vice-principal of the Beliaghata ID Hospital, said the dengue virus has been "changing character regularly".
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Kalamassery hotspot of dengue cases in district
Discover the latest dengue outbreak in Ernakulam district, Kerala, with a focus on Kalamassery municipality. Learn about the reasons behind the spike in cases and the ongoing efforts to tackle the situation through intensive cleaning drives.
Kolkata: The Bengal health department has asked hospitals to check all patients with serious diarrhoea for dengue after a section of doctors reported that fever may have yielded its place to acute diarrhoeal disease (ADD) as the most prominent symptom of the vector-borne disease this season.The health department's advisory is even for patients with very low-grade fever.According to health experts, the most common — or classical — symptom of dengue is sudden onset of high fever, bodyache, headache, rash and nausea. While diarrhoea and abdominal pain was always there as accompanying symptoms in a few cases, fever was always the most prominent symptom. Several doctors TOI spoke to, however, said they had noticed dengue patients with only mild fever, but pronounced ADD, in the last couple of weeks."We are getting reports of dengue patients who don't have acute fever, but with ADD," said a health official. "We are also seeing a few cases of patients with abdominal pain and mild fever testing dengue-positive."Microbiologist Asis Manna, a former vice-principal of the Beliaghata ID Hospital, said the dengue virus has been "changing character regularly". "Hence, it can throw up unusual symptoms. The advisory is timely for early detection and treatment," he added.There are four serotypes of the dengue virus: DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3 and DEN-4. In 2023, the dengue surge in Bengal was driven predominantly by DEN-3."Symptoms could vary according to the dengue serotype," said infectious diseases specialist Sayan Chakraborty of Manipal Hospitals Dhakuria. "While fever is considered a prominent feature in some cases, diarrhoea can also be accompanying it, depending on which serotype is causing the surge. This is only the beginning of the dengue surge, so we need to be mindful of all symptoms."Molecular pathologist Abhirup Sarkar, lab director at Suraksha Diagnostic chain, also indicated that the virus strain might be changing.Sources in the health department said samples were being sent for serotyping and the results would throw up the trending serotype this year. "Earlier, we used to see lots of cases with rash on the body, but we don't see that too much nowadays. Also, patients mostly get mild bodyache now. Dengue symptoms seem to be changing and hence adhering to the govt's advisory will ensure timely detection and treatment," said Alakes Kumar Kole, professor of internal medicine, SSKM.
