Kolkata: While multiple viral infections have seen long and severe spurt in Kolkata over the last one month, dengue cases are yet to be reported.A possible reason behind this could be the predominance of other viruses like Influenza A, B, swine flu and even a mild Covid, said experts. Others differed, saying that this has nothing to do with the drop in dengue cases since the modes of transmission of dengue and respiratory viruses are different. “We have been grappling with Influenza A, B and swine flu cases for almost six weeks now. Symptoms are often severe, especially for those with comorbidities. But surprisingly we have received no dengue patients. Even dengue suspects have been very few,” said Charnock Hospital pulmonology head Soumya Sengupta.At Peerless Hospital, more than 100 have tested positive for swine flu over the last one month, apart from scores of Influenza A, B and Covid cases. “Every year, dengue patients start coming in by July but they have been absent so far this time. While there is no clinical co-relation between other viral outbreaks and dengue, it has been observed that dengue gets suppressed when other viruses spread,” said Peerless Hospital chief microbiologist Bhaskar Narayan Chaudhury.“Till last year, we received multiple dengue patients by end-July. While it is true that one dominant virus seems to obliterate others, there is no co-relation. Dengue is a mosquito-borne virus, and respiratory infections spread through droplets,” said Sayan Chakrabarty, infectious diseases physician, Manipal Hospital. He added a possible reason could be that showers have been sharp this year, preventing puddle formation where mosquitoes breed.Ruby General Hospital launched a 10-bed unit for patients with respiratory infections. “We have admitted several patients presenting with symptoms of dengue, although none tested positive. We witnessed several confirmed malaria cases, indicating that multiple vector-borne diseases are circulating simultaneously,” said MS Purkait, medical superintendent, Techno India DAMA Hospital.Satyaki Basu, internal medicine consultant at BP Poddar Hospital said, “I have seen an average of 6–7 patients daily with fever, sore throat, cough, body ache, and fatigue, most of whom are presenting influenza-like symptoms. The prevailing weather pattern is favouring the transmission of respiratory viruses.”
