Hospitals swell up with fever patients
NOIDA: Government and private hospitals in Gautam Budh Nagar are reporting a surge in fever cases over the past week with out-patient departments (OPDS) remaining swamped with fever patients almost daily, said doctors. They, however, insisted that most of these patients were suffering from the seasonal flu, which is common as summer gives way to winter.
None tested positive for Covid-19, they said.
Where most hospitals reported around three or four daily cases of viral infections (not including Covid-19) earlier (before August 15), now they report around 30-40 cases a day.
“We are seeing around 120 patients with fever at our OPDS every day for the past one week. These patients are screened for malaria, dengue and Covid-19, but none has turned positive for any of the diseases. We have eight fever patients admitted, but they will be discharged soon,” said Dr Sushma Chandra, chief medical superintendent, District Combined Hospital in Noida’s Sector 30.
While malaria is caused by a parasite and dengue by a virus, both are transmitted by mosquitoes.
The Postgraduate Institute of Child Health, also known as Child PGI, is seeing around 30 to 40 children with symptoms of viral fever. “Each day, around 10 children are being admitted in the hospital who come with diarrhoea or other complications, along with viral fever. This is typical of the flu. Currently, the hospital has 80 children admitted but none tested positive for dengue, malaria or Covid-19. There were two patients with malaria, who were admitted to the hospital, but they have recovered,” said Dr (major) BP Singh, senior emergency medical officer, Child PGI.
Dr (brig) Rakesh Gupta, director of Government Institute of Medical Sciences in Greater Noida, said the hospital has seen a surge in viral fever cases but it was equipped to treat all patients. “Since past 10 days, we have had around 25 to 30 paediatric patients at the OPD every day. Currently, 100 viral fever patients are admitted to the hospital, of whom 30 are in the paediatric ward,” said Dr Gupta. , Sharda Hospital said it had 280 patients with viral fever admitted, of whom 35 are children.
“Some are showing signs of dengue, but that is yet to be confirmed. Cases where the fever has persisted for over five days are being screened for Covid-19 as well,” said Dr Ajeet Kumar, director, public relations, Sharda Hospital.
At Fortis Hospital in Noida, 30 to 40 cases of viral fever are being reported in its OPD.
“Currently, three patients of suspected dengue and three patients of leptospirosis are admitted to the hospital. The OPD is seeing viral fever patients who are between the age of 20 to 40 years and they come with symptoms of high-grade fever, giddiness, nausea , vomiting and rashes,” said Dr Ajay Agarwal, director and head of internal medicine, Fortis Hospital, Noida.
According to official figures, the district has reported 23 cases of malaria so far, of which 13 were reported in August alone.
“A door-to-door survey between August 31 and September 3 across the district threw up 741 cases of viral fever among the 9,709 people screened,” said district malaria officer Rajesh Sharma, adding that they were currently conducting another survey focussing on four groups — yet to be immunised children below the age of 12 years, testing for tuberculosis among people with cough and fever persisting for over two weeks, Covid testing for those with fever for five days and unvaccinated people who were at least 45 years old.
“During the monsoon, there is an increase in the number of patients suffering from cough, cold and fever, and there is a high possibility of people contracting dengue and malaria as well. The public is requested not to allow water to collect around their houses to avoid vectorborne diseases. The health department has issued an advisory asking people to not selfmedicate in case of fever and contact their nearest health centre. A helpline — 1800-419-2211 —has been made available to assist the public,” said Dr Sunil Kumar Sharma, chief medical officer, Gautam Budh Nagar.
He added that an action plan has been prepared by the district administration to prevent the spread of any disease. “A rapid response team and a control room has been set up at the District Combined Hospital in Sector 30 and at all the seven health centres in the district to report cases of viral fever. All these centres are equipped with testing facilities for dengue and malaria and have child health specialists as well,” said Sharma.