BENGALURU: The number of Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) and Influenza Like Illness(ILI) cases has seen a three-fold rise in just one week, as per the State data. Experts say that such cases are going to surge with the weather change. And the new worrying factor is that these patients are at a greater risk for Covid-19, especially the ones who are diagnosed late.
The Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD) which was treating Covid-19 patients before Victoria Hospital was named the designated hospital, has now been checking on SARI and ILI cases. And the doctors there state that there has been a spike in the cases since the past one week. Earlier, the hospital would see 20 cases per day, which has increased to about 60 this week.
Dr C Nagaraj, Director of RGICD, said, “The cases have definitely gone high. Many people have been showing both SARI and ILI symptoms. We have also been seeing positive cases. We have 100 isolation beds where the patients are kept until their samples come. The surge in cases can be attributed to the weather change. Also people are more aware now and coming forward to report if they have any symptoms. We have a group of seven-eight dedicated doctors dealing with these cases.” “A majority are younger adults between 20 and 40 and patients above 60 years.
We can expect to see more cases due to the onset of monsoon. And people need to take all precautionary measures and stay safe,” he added. Dr Mohan, Medical Superintendent of KC General Hospital, said, “We have seen a 15% increase in the number of SARI and ILI cases since the last few of days. However, many people have tested negative. But people are coming for checkup knowing the symptoms. And we can expect more patients coming in due to drop in temperatures in the evening which might result in influenza cases.
We have dedicated beds and our staff is keeping a tab on every case, especially high-risk patients.”
So far according to state war room data, out of the 6,824 total cases, 134 have been attributed to ILI cases and 93 to SARI. Dr Anoop Amarnath, Chief of Clinical Services at Manipal Hospitals and member of Clinical Care Support Team said, “In monsoons we usually see a slight increase in ILI component. This is seen as a season variation and we can expect an increase in such cases. But it is important to differentiate between Covid-19 positive patients and the ones who are not. The persons who are at high risk and those from containment zones should get tested immediately if they have any such symptoms and not attribute it to weather change.”