Temp flip-flop brings back viruses, Kolkata reels from cough & cold
Times of India | 1 March 2025
Kolkata: With the mercury in a spike-and-slide mode at the turn of the season, viruses have made a comeback, leaving thousands across the city down with cough and cold. The outbreak has coincided with the board exams. In consistency with the trend since the onset of winter, the cough is more severe and persisted after a brief period of low fever, said doctors. Rhinovirus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza, and para-influenza are among the viruses now in circulation.
Manipal Hospital has seen a significant spurt in cough-and-cold patients over the last week, said infectious diseases physician Sayan Chakrabarty. "We have seen a proliferation of patients with Influenza B and para-influenza. While they have mild symptoms, there are many children and elderly patients with pneumonia in ICU," said Chakrabarty.
Viruses like rhinovirus, metapneumo, and RSV are also striking frequently, causing mild infections but enough to hinder exam performance, said Charnock Hospital pulmonologist Soumya Sengupta.
"Our hospital OPD is full of these patients. The common symptoms include a blocked nose, throat ache, low fever, and breathing distress in some cases," Sengupta said.
Influenza B, para-influenza, rota-enterovirus, and rhinovirus have been most common among adolescents and adults over the last week, said Peerless Hospital chief microbiologist Bhaskar Narayan Chaudhury. "There was a spurt due to the temperature fluctuations. We have also tested several patients positive for RSV and adenovirus, though the number of these cases was fewer. We have also received a nine-year-old patient who tested positive for Influenza A (H1N1) — the first such case since Nov," said Chaudhury.
BP Poddar Hospital has received 67 patients with cough, cold, and fever over the last fortnight. "Nearly two-thirds of these involve schoolchildren or geriatric patients with co-morbidities. Twenty-three were admitted, but they don't include any student," said Supriyo Chakrabarty, group advisor of BP Poddar.
BP Poddar consultant physician Rajdeep Sen said that during seasonal changes, fluctuations in temperature and humidity can compromise the protective mechanisms of both upper and lower respiratory tracts, making them more susceptible to viral infections and, at times, secondary bacterial infections. At ILS Hospital Dum Dum, the number of patients with dry and persistent cough was high. "Seasonal viruses, like influenza, non-Covid coronavirus, and adenovirus have been frequent," said ILS consultant pulmonologist Mrinmoy Mitra.
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