But the fever and the other symptoms have been receding within a week and have not been fatal so far, said Peerless Hospital internal medicine consultant Chandramouli Mukherjee.
“Most such patients have been struck by very high-grade fever followed by shortness of breath and transient heart issues that are being resolved. Almost all had an upper respiratory tract infection, which, though serious in many cases are getting cured with antibiotics. It is leaving the patients very weak,” said Mukherjee.
With a spurt in the spread of dengue, Influenza A, rhinovirus, and H1N1 over the last fortnight, the sudden high fever is leading to a panic. “Respiratory viruses other than Covid, which includes influenza or influenza-like illnesses like para-influenza and orthomixo virus, which are rarely tested, can trigger a bout of severe fever and cold.
These are now triggering a high temperature in the range of 103-105 which is lasting for 2-3 days. Dosage of paracetamol is having to be doubled to keep the fever in check. But most patients are recovering in a week,” said RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences (RTIICS) intensivist Sauren Panja.
A high viral load could be triggering a strong immune response and hence a high body temperature, said internal medicine consultant Arindam Biswas. “These are mostly seasonal viruses that strike routinely at this time of the year. Paracetamol and rest are the best medicines unless there is a bacterial infection which has been rare. It is affecting people across all age groups,” said Biswas.
Medicine professor Partha Sarathi Karmakar of College of Medicine and Sagore Dutta Medical College said cases of fever have been rampant over the last two weeks. “We are coming across cases of some unclassified fever which can be either viral or bacterial which are triggering very high grade fever. The temperature has been subsiding within two to three days. But if such fever persists beyond five days, patients should consult doctors or hospitals for better evaluation and management,” said Karmakar.
Enteric, typhoid, malaria and scrub-typhus too have spread widely, said Institute of Post-Graduate Medical Education & Research (IPGMER) professor Diptendra Sarkar. “They can trigger very high temperatures so should be taken seriously. Malaria, a parasitic ailment, triggers high temperature that can touch 104 degrees.
Typhoid is caused by a bacteria and can be fatal. It often leads to high temperatures. Dengue is again spreading in Kolkata and has been leading to very high, persistent fever,” said Sarkar. Cold sponge should be given within the first 30 minutes of the fever shooting up, said experts.