BENGALURU: There has been an increase in number of people suffering from major throat and respiratory infections as well as viral fever in the city in the past one week. Reason: winter which is setting in. Dr B Ramana Rao, Consulting Physician and Cardiologist, told TNIE, “I have seen a 10-15% rise in number of people coming to my clinic at Sadashivanagar with flu like symptoms .”
Dr V K Sharma, Consultant Physician at Narayana Multi Speciality Clinic on Sarjapur Road, said, “Anywhere between 80% and 90% of patients who have come to meet me in the past fortnight, not just the past week, have been suffering from the viral flu. Bronchitis, respiratory tract and viral infections have been observed in most of them.”
The recent rains, followed by cold temperatures, have contributed to this rise in number of people showing these symptoms as these viruses thrive in such conditions. There has been a spurt in viral infections among patients in the last three to four days, said Dr H S Satish, Director cum Dean, Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute.
Dr K S Manjunath, Director cum Dean Bowring & Lady Curzon Medical College & Research Institute, spoke of the virus spreading easily from one person to another through cough and sneeze.Randeep D, Additional Commissioner of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (Health), whose jurisdiction covers all hospitals of the erstwhile BMP, says, “There has been an increase in number of patients reporting these problems during the last fortnight. But the overall figure is less when compared with corresponding figures during this month in 2017 and 2016.”