Mumbai: Worried sick about dengue? 90% cases are just viral fever

The BMC is on a war footing to try and curb the number of dengue cases with regular checks and fumigation across the city

Even as the panic over dengue is rising to a fever pitch, BMC officials have come forward with assurances that there is no cause to be alarmed. Although hundreds of people are falling sick across the city, the authorities said that 90% of the cases are just viral fevers and not the deadly dengue.

Fear factor
In the last five days alone, the disaster management cell has received 105 calls from panicked citizens. Much of the fear stems from the sudden surge in cases of high fever (higher than 104 degrees Celsius) accompanied by body ache and nausea - all characteristics of dengue. But only one in 10 cases have been confirmed as dengue fever. In most instances, the real culprit is viral fever, which is easily treated within a week.

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"There is panic among people that dengue cases are on the rise. But in 90% of the cases, tests have confirmed that it is just viral fever. As the symptoms are the same in both the ailments, people are getting confused. But the number of dengue deaths and cases of platelet deficiency has gone down," said Dr Avinash Supe, director of major BMC hospitals.

Another factor that has contributed to the panic is that people remember the flood of dengue cases that hit the city during the monsoon last year. Even the BMC took a lesson from that experience and decided to prepare itself this year by first sending a sample of the virus for analysis at the National Institute of Virology in Pune two months ago, as the authorities wanted to know whether the virus had evolved to become stronger - more virulent or resistant to treatment. The analysis showed that while the virus had evolved, the change was not big enough to hamper treatment.

"With changing times, viruses also evolve, so we had sent a sample for analysis. The report stated that the change is extremely limited. It doesn't have any grievous impact," said an officer from the epidemiological department.

Not quite dengue
Officials were taken aback once again this monsoon, when hundreds of patients began to turn up with dengue-like symptoms. But when they were tested for the disease, their reports came back negative. Doctors realised that most of the cases were viral fever that displayed nearly all the symptoms of dengue but were not as deadly. The only difference between the two diseases is that in dengue, the blood platelet level falls drastically, and specific antibodies can be found in the blood. However, this can only be detected by specialised tests (ELISA and Rapid tests).

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Doctor's orders
Make no mistake, while the two diseases manifest with pretty much the same symptoms, dengue is by far the more deadly of the two. So while there's no reason to panic just yet, if someone is suffering from high fever for days at a stretch, it would be wise to get tested. "If a person has high fever for more than five days, he should immediately go to a diagnostic centre or hospital for the Rapid test. Normally, it is after five days that the dengue antibodies can be found," said Dr Anuradha De, additional professor at the Department of Microbiology at Lokmanya Tilak Medical College.

Viral study
Now concerned by the aggressive symptoms of the viral fever, BMC health officers held a meeting last week to discuss the issue. That's when they decided to send another sample from the viral cases for analysis as well. "Viral fever during monsoon is extremely common and can have similar symptoms like dengue. But in a few cases, we have seen that the temperature is going higher than 104 degrees Celsius, with severe body ache. It has also led to sudden deaths of patients. So, a sample has been sent for analysis," said an officer from the BMC.

- Inputs from Laxman Singh