Ranchi: With a sudden rise in maximum and minimum temperatures across
Jharkhand in the last few days, several persons have been visiting doctors and physicians with complaints of seasonal diseases.
On Monday, Jamshedpur remained warm with a minimum temperature of 18° Celsius and a maximum of 31° C while the mercury at Ranchi was at 16.3° C at night and 27.5° C during daytime. On Sunday, Ranchi had recorded 17.6° C minimum temperature, the highest for the month in 50 years.
While weathermen attribute this sudden change to a western disturbance and its impact, many are clueless about the exact reason for the unusual weather pattern.
Meanwhile, there has been a sharp spike in the number of people visiting healthcare experts with complaints of cold, cough and sore throat are common and most are concerned that they could have been infected with Covid as the new disease has symptoms similar to those of the common
flu.
“Over the last few days, there has been a significant increase in the number of people visting doctors with cough and
fever. I have been suggesting everyone to get tested for Covid so that they can be sure about their condition,” Ranchi civil surgeon Dr VB Prasad said. “Common flu will mostly subside on its own, but a simple Covid test will help prevent more and more people from getting infected as the patient will exercise some restraints and take necessary precautions,” he said.
Eminent ENT specialist Dr Abhishek Kumar Ramadhin is also getting many patients with influenza-like symptoms. “There is obviously some link between the weather change and these cases of viral fever. On an average, everyone is attacked by virus seven to eight times a year, but depending upon their health condition, people either fall ill or recover with minor symptoms,” he said.
Emphasizing that a Covid test is key to rule out the possibility of more severe infection and health complications, Ramadhin said that during the pandemic, all influenza-like symptoms must be considered as Covid unless ruled out by test. “From our study of cases related to the novel coronavirus and other viruses, we have gathered that a runny nose or sneezing is not as common among Covid patients as dry cough. Other conditions like seasonal viral fever and allergic reaction to change of seasons is usually accompanied with running nose, sneezing and cough with sputum,” he said.