Bhubaneswar: AIIMS-Bhubaneswar is receiving 4-5 patients every day with hand foot and mouth disease (HFMD) symptoms, initially called Tomato flu, additional superintendent Prabhas Tripathy informed on Saturday.
“We have been receiving such patients since 2 weeks. They are being discharged after treatment at the OPD. We are advising parents to keep symptomatic kids in isolation,” he added.
The Capital Hospital has also been receiving 5 to 8 children with flu-like symptoms since the last 15 days. “They complain of having reddish lesions inside the mouth, skin rashes, lack of appetite, cough and pain in the throat while gulping down food. They usually recover after two to four days of medication. Samples from a few suspected cases have been sent to RMRC, we are expecting the report in a week,” said Director, Capital Hospital, Dr Laxmidhar Sahu.
“The situation is under control and there is no reason to panic since the patients are not exhibiting all symptoms of HFMD,” he added.
Last week, the state government had said that it was alert to the sudden spurt in HFMD in several parts of Odisha, including Bhubaneswar, and monitoring the situation. “We have asked the districts to monitor if there is any unusual increase in cases. If we receive a report from any district regarding the spread of the infection, measures will be taken accordingly,” said Public Health director Niranjan Mishra.
Also Read: Odisha Sees Sudden Spurt In Tomato Flu!
An isolation facility has reportedly been created at Sishu Bhawan, Cuttack, with doctors raising concern over HFMD being detected in older children up to 14 years, while it was earlier restricted to those below the age of five, and the possibility of mutation of the strain or entry of an entirely new virus.
The HFMD was initially called Tomato fever after an outbreak in Kerala, which prompted neighbouring states like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to issue alerts over its possible spread to their region.
Health Secretary Dr J Radhakrishnan later clarified that the infection spreading in Kerala is caused by a virus variant of HFMD and not ‘tomato fever’. “The Health Secretary of Kerala told me that rashes were caused by a virus variant belonging to Hand Foot and Mouth Disease and not related to tomato fever. He added that the infection spread is contained within the State. So, people of Tamil Nadu need not panic,” Radhakrishnan added.
