Unidentified fevers in Punjab & Chandigarh

[Ronan Kelly]

Mystery fever wreaks trouble in Panchkula & Chandigarh
Shimona Kanwar, TNN | May 28, 2011, 03.58am IST

CHANDIGARH: Panchkula and Chandigarh are in the grip of a mysterious fever. Daily, over 150 cases of it are being seen in the out-patient departments of government and private clinics in the two cities. Experts have not been able to find out what microorganism is causing this despite various tests.

"These cases cannot be labelled as diarrhoea or heat stroke. They are occurring due to fluctuation of temperature," said Dr Usha Gupta, medical superintendent at General Hospital, Sector 6, Panchkula.

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Dr Kamal Singh of GMCH-32 said, "Every day, we are seeing around 10-15 such patients who have fever and feel dizzy. We get them to undergo leucocytes count test. In bacterial infection, the count tends to be high and for viruses, it tends to be low. We have also been conducting the cerebro-spinal fluid tests for detection of encephalitis. But this fever is none of these."

"The number of cases is unusually large. Their inflow is expected to continue for another fortnight to a month. Unlike diarrhoea, malaria, typhoid or gastroenteritis, this infection has not been affecting any specific organ," said Dr Rajdeep Sarin, a Panchkula-based private practitioner.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/Mystery-fever-wreaks-trouble-in-Panchkula-Chandigarh/articleshow/8614177.cms

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Unidentified fever wreaks trouble in Panchkula (Punjab) & Chandigarh

Mystery fever still affecting patients
Shimona KanwarShimona Kanwar, TNN | Jun 7, 2011, 01.23am IST

CHANDIGARH: Mystery fever is still showing up at Chandigarh and Panchkula hospitals. And now, the number of patients coming to medical facilities has increased from 150 to 175 daily.

Clinicians feel that as the fever is not serious and subsides with medicines, there is no requirement for sending samples to microbiologists. However, patients are popping pills without proper information for dealing with the condition.

''We are seeing 10-15 patients daily with high fever and lymphocytes count, which indicates infection. This count has risen from normal 8,000 to 25,000 in some of the patients,'' said Dr Ramneek Bedi, phusician based in Sector 33.

The Times of India had reported the matter of the mystery microbe causing this fever a week ago.

Dr Kamal Singh from department of medicine at the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, said, ''The same symptoms are reaching us with some additional cases. A week ago, we used to see 10-15 cases of this. Now we get another five or six.''

''Patients coming with symptoms of high grade fever and dizziness are sent for routine blood tests. I have been on anti-allergy medicine since a week. Though the problem has reduced, it recurs after some time. I have no idea what I have been diagnosed with,'' said Pradeep Dhiman, a resident of Panchkula.

The disease-causing organism has remained undiagnosed and despite conducting various tests, the doctors have been unable to detect and name the disease. Dr Jagdish Chander, head of the Government Medical College and Hospital's department of microbiology said, ''Most of the viruses cannot be detected. We have not received any sample for investigation.''

In Panchkula's public and private hospitals also, there has been an addition of 2-3 cases daily. ''We are seeing patients with this infection. But with medicines, it subsides. So we did not think it was necessary to send the samples to find the causative organism,'' said a medical specialist at General Hospital, Sector 6, Panchkula.

Medical superintendent at General Hospital, Panchkula, Dr Usha Gupta, said, ''Until the doctors don't request samples, we cannot take up the issue.''

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/Mystery-fever-still-affecting-patients/articleshow/8753629.cms

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Unidentified fever wreaks trouble in Panchkula (Punjab) & Chandigarh

Mystery fever scare rises
Shivani Mehra, TNN | Jun 29, 2011, 12.39am IST
UDHIANA: There's a mystery fever that has gripped the city of Ludhiana and with even doctors failing to pinpoint the cause or type of the illness, residents have begun panicking. Those complaining of the baffling fever are also more by the day as doctors say the cases pouring in have increased by 60%. The symptoms include high fever, stomach pain and low platelet count.

While the patients and their families have failed to understand the cause of this fever, doctors too are not clear about what is causing it. From next to no case till a few months ago, as many as seven people are daily being now diagnosed with this fever these days.

A doctor is Apollo Hospital's medicine department, Gautam Aggarwal, said, ''I am treating as many as eight such patients every day. Monsoons have brought some viral and bacterial infections and this one seems unclassified.''

Most of those suffering from the ailment include people in the age group of 15 to 45 years. ''Though the cause is still a mystery, it takes nearly four days for a patient to recover from the fever. People must take precautions but even these can become ineffective as the infections are air-borne,'' the doctor added.

Medical superintendent of Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital R S Sodhi said more than 50 patients of mystery fever visit the hospital every week. ''The numbers have gone up tremendously. It is a non-specific form of fever and cannot be diagnosed as the city lacks testing equipment,'' Sodhi added.

Amit Berry, a doctor at DMC Hospital, said they had started receiving patients of mystery fever, adding the number might increase during the coming months. ''We call it viral but nobody is sure about the type of fever,'' he added.

Sangeeta Sharma, a resident of Vikas Nagar, said her 15-year-old son was suffering from this fever, adding the doctors called it seasonal viral fever. ''My son Rohan does not eat out... we're not sure what caused the malady,'' she added.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ludhiana/Mystery-fever-scare-rises/articleshow/9031645.cms