Mystery Fever

Doctors are clueless about the viral strain that has gripped several states in India this monsoon.

- Kundan Pandey

OUTBREAKS OF viral fever occur with seasonal regularity during the monsoon in India. For the past few years, dengue and chikungunya viruses have been the predominant pathogens. But this year, the country is in the grip of a strange fever. Its symptoms are similar to chikungunya and dengue but tests on patients show negative results for these mosquito-borne viral diseases. Reena, a resident of Bhogal in south Delhi, is one such patient. She ran high temperature for 10 days and suffered from severe pain in the joints, rashes and swollen face—symptoms associated with chikungunya. But the tests showed negative results. Similar was the case of Prachi Nautiyal, a resident of Noida, Uttar Pradesh. In August, Prachi suffered from high fever, body ache, joint pain and skin rashes but tests for dengue and chikungunya showed negative results.

The phenomenon is not limited to Delhi. Vivek Billampelly, former president of General Practitioners Association, Pune, says the city too has had a high number of viral fever cases. Samarjit Naskar, critical care expert at Belle Vue Hospital, Kolkata, also says that there is a huge number of patients with undiagnosed viral fever this year.

Difficulty in diagnosis also increases the treatment cost for patients because they have to undergo several tests. Ajay Nagar of Rajbeer Colony, Delhi, had to spend R10,000 on treatment and identification of the viral strain her mother was suffering from. But the tests remained inconclusive.

Experts clueless