Steady uptick in flu cases sparks Covid fears in Delhi

Even as the Covid-19 caseloads continues to dip in the Capital, city doctors said they have reported an increase in the number of fever cases driven by seasonal influenza.

These patients are tested for Covid-19, in accordance with central government guidelines, almost all of which return negative. Currently, doctors said, seven of 10 fever cases are caused by the flu.

“Cases of Covid-19 have almost disappeared in the city. If someone comes to me with a fever at the moment, I would say they have seasonal flu. Out of 10 fever patients, seven have flu,” said Dr Rommel Tickoo, director of internal medicine at Max hospital in Saket.

Dr Amitabh Parti, director of internal medicine at Fortis Memorial Research Institute in Gurugram, agreed. “There has been a 20-25% increase in cases of fever over the last two to three weeks; most of these are cases of seasonal flu. Other than that, we have started seeing cases of dengue and typhoid,” he said.

He said the erratic weather in the National Capital Region — intense spells of rain, followed by rising heat and humidity — may be driving influenza cases up.

Doctors said the flu this season is also, unusually, affecting entire families.

“Entire families are coming down with flu together, just like we saw with Covid-19 during the second wave when the infectious delta variant was circulating. Most people are reporting high-grade fever (103°F to 104°F), sore throat, myalgia (body ache), head ache, and runny nose. Around 10% to 20% of the patients are reporting persistent coughing even after the fever goes down after four or five days,” said Dr Tickoo.

The flu virus in circulation keep changing from season to season; experts from across the world predict the strains likely to circulate during a particular year based on which the flu shot is updated.

Dr Parti added, “Almost all of the people are reporting upper respiratory tract symptoms; there is not much lower respiratory tract involvement such as pneumonia. There is a high awareness about fever and respiratory symptoms because of Covid-19 and hence more patients with flu are reporting to hospitals.”

Dr Tickoo agreed that the numbers are definitely higher than last year as many people were not going to hospitals or getting themselves tested for conditions other than Covid-19.

When to visit a doctor?

Doctors suggest waiting for a few days for the fever to resolve on its own unless the symptoms aggravate. However, with the city still in the grip of a pandemic, they suggest that fevers not be ignored.

“All fevers with respiratory tract infection must seek medical care. We are at a cusp of a third wave of Covid-19. In such a situation, fevers should not be ignored,” said Dr Parti.

Fevers, especially those with comorbidities should not be ignored. “People who have comorbidities like diabetes, cancer, heart, liver, and kidney disease must consult a doctor if they have fever. Comorbidities not only increases the risk of death in Covid-19 patients, it can also increase the severity of flu,” said Dr BK Tripathii, professor in the department of medicine at Safdarjung hospital.

“All the precautions observed for Covid-19, such as putting on masks, maintaining social distance, washing hands, avoiding crowded places helps in keeping seasonal flu at bay as well,” said Dr Tripathi.