Surge in ‘dengue-like fever’ affecting children in Bengaluru; check symptoms here
Surge in dengue-like infections in Bengaluru, India affecting children; doctors suspect evolution of dengue virus.
A surge in dengue-like infections has been witnessed in Karnataka's tech capital Bengaluru with children especially those under the age of 10 are most affected, a report by News 18 has stated.
As per the report, these cases match the typical dengue symptoms, including drop in platelet count, however, when tested, the results come back as negative for the virus-borne illness spread by mosquitoes.
As per the report, some doctors are of the belief that dengue-like infection could be due to the evolution of the dengue virus. Moreover, the doctors have advised the parents to seek immediate help if their children suffer high fever. Further adding, they added that kids have a chance of having low platelets count which might also cause their blood pressure to drop, the report have stated.
They have advised parents to not use over over-the-counter remedies in case of fever like Ibuprofen as it leads to the risk of bleeding complications in dengue fever.
Dr Narayanaswamy S who is the medical director of Bengaluru's Athreya Hospital told News18, “These fevers mirror classic dengue symptoms, including a significant drop in platelet count, accompanied by high fever but don’t yield a positive result when any dengue test is done. Also, we have observed that these cases have surpassed the actual dengue cases at Athreya Hospitals.”
Another doctor Dr Supraja Chandrasekar who is the director of paediatric services at DHEE Hospitals in Bengaluru told News18 that hospital has witnessed spike in dengue like cases among children. Apart from the high-grade fever, she said that “Symptoms such as intense headaches, eye pain and heightened body ache are unusually more prevalent this season,” as quoted by News18. Other medical experts also highlighted symptoms like high fever, severe headache, vomiting and itching, as reported by the daily.
Speaking of dengue cases in Karnataka, as of 19 July, the state recorded 4,013 dengue cases, according to the BBMP as reported by India Today while Bengaluru saw 2,065 cases or 51.4 percent of all cases reported in the state.
Meanwhile, the Dengue virus could become more virulent due to increasing temperatures, according to a study that could help in predicting and mitigating the severity and virulence of the recurring tropical disease that witnesses an outbreak in the monsoon, as reported by PTI.
The Researchers at Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB) in Kerala found that dengue becomes more severe and hostile in animal models when its virus (DENV) while being grown in mosquito-derived cells is exposed to higher temperatures.
The research, published recently in the FASEB journal, can help in predicting and mitigating the severity and virulence of dengue which has an estimated global disease burden of 390 million cases per year.
“Dengue being a mosquito-transmitted disease, the ability of the causative virus to grow in the cells of mosquito as well as in humans is a critical factor in viral virulence. The body temperature of mosquitoes is not constant as in higher animals and it increases or decreases with the environmental temperature,” said Easwaran Sreekumar, the team leader of the research from RGCB as reported by PTI.
Dengue is a viral infection caused by DENV and transmitted to humans through the bite of infected mosquitoes. Globally, the incidence of dengue is on the rise over the years, with a corresponding increase in disease severity and fatality.
While in the majority of the patients, the disease is mild and self-limiting, in some patients, it causes life-threatening thrombocytopenia or extremely low platelet count in blood, and shock syndrome.
(With inputs from PTI)
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Business NewsNewsIndiaSurge in ‘dengue-like fever’ affecting children in Bengaluru; check symptoms here
First Published:1 Sep 2023, 12:41 PM IST
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