Seasonal woes: 90 pc patients in OPDs have viral infections

Around 90 per cent of the patients at Outdoor Patient Department (OPD) at government hospitals in the national capital are suffering from viral infections, said doctors. This trend will continue till October end, experts said.

The trend is similar for both adults and children across hospitals.

“In 90 per cent of the OPD cases, patients are suffering from viral infections. This is almost a 400 per cent increase compared to the lean season,” said Dr Alok Agarwal, paediatric head, Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital.

“Most children are suffering from severe cold and cough besides fever. Children who are admitted due to unknown reasons are suffering from malaria and dengue in some cases,” Dr Agarwal said.

The common symptoms of a viral infection are fever, fatigue, headache, cough and sore throat.

“During this season, most people are suffering from viral infections. One should immediately see a doctor if the fever does not subside for over five days. One should also check with a doctor if he is running out of breath,” said Dr Vikram Kesar, Biochemistry Department, Rao Tula Ram Memorial Hospital.

No antibiotics Antibiotics should not be prescribed for all viral infections.
“There are chances that due to prolonged use of anti-biotics, the patient will grow resistant to it. Only a small percentage of people complaining of fever or headache are suffering from bacterial infection,” said Dr Kesar.

On an average around 20-30 per cent of the total OPD patients are turning up with symptoms of dengue.

On weekends, around 50 per cent of the patients are showing up in the emergency who are later testing positive for dengue.

“These are mostly patients who have been talking paracetomol for the first few days and then are coming with severe manifestation of the infection,” said Dr Hitendra Singh Tanwar, Associate Professor, Medicine Department, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.

“Another 30 per cent of the OPD load is patients coming with upper respiratory tract infection,” Dr  Tanwar said.

In the paediatrics department, a significant number of patients are coming with bodyache and vomiting.

“There is a general rise in fever cases, even if those patients do not test positive for malaria or dengue,” said Dr Pradeep Singh, paediatrician, RML Hospital.

Extra precautions

People should take extra precautions in eliminating breeding source of mosquitoes.
“People should be careful in checking breeding spots in stagnant water, air coolers and taking personal precautionary measures,” informed C Pandav, head of the department, Community Medicine, AIIMS.