Delhi reports unexpected surge in swine flu and other viral cases

By Shalini Bharadwaj
New Delhi [India], September 18 : The swine flu cases are at peak in Delhi, NCR; OPD's are flooded with swine flu; viral infections, cholera and dengue cases are also rising, according to Dr S Chatterjee, Senior Consultant, Department of Internal Medicine at Apollo Hospital.
"There are lots of infections that are happening at this moment. So it's obviously a challenge to diagnose them, and at the right time, we are having simple viral infections like the viral respiratory tract infections. We are having a lot of swine flu, which was unexpected, but we are having a lot of swine flu, a few COVID cases. We are also having dengue, typhoid, a very few cases of cholera as well, and routine gastroenteritis," Chatterjee said.
"So it is a spectrum of cases that we are seeing, and so it is important for us and for the public to report to the treating doctors early, so that we can diagnose them on time and we can save them of complications," he said.
Over the last couple of weeks, we have seen so many that we have started suspecting quite frequently, and whenever somebody is coming with an upper respiratory tract or a lower respiratory tract symptom, we are definitely doing tests to establish that we are not missing swine flu or COVID," he added.
"It could be the weather that is there because all the right now is more of a gastrointestinal infection that happens, but it is also true that respiratory tract infections can also happen during this time," Chatterjee explained.
"The normal symptoms are runny nose, sneezing, sore throat, cough, and body ache, a usual symptom that any upper respiratory tract infection, high grade fever and weakness would have, but quite a few times, what I have seen is that these people feel more weak than usual," Chaterjee further stated.
Dr. Sameer Bhati, Public Health Analyst, stressed the critical importance of timely testing during the peak season for mosquito-borne diseases.
"In September, we typically see a sharp increase in testing for diseases like dengue and chikungunya. It's essential to rule out these infections in patients who show symptoms. Thankfully, with advancements in diagnostics, a single test can now detect multiple viral, season-specific diseases," Bhati said.
He further explained, "As flu cases also rise during this period, testing for H1N1 (swine flu) and H3N2 remains crucial, just as it was last year. Swine flu testing is particularly important for individuals showing chest-related symptoms. We should never underestimate flu symptoms--high-risk individuals must get tested without delay. As the season progresses, the demand for Swine Flu, Dengue, and Chikungunya testing continues to rise."
"People those who comes under comorbidities are landing in ICU's as well," Bhati added.