Drop in temperature leads to increase in respiratory infections

 BENGALURU: According to doctors, the cold weather in the city has led to an increase in the cases of viral fever and respiratory infections. People who are battling with diabetes, cardiac issues and asthma are the worst affected, said Dr Jyothsna.

Krishnappa, who is a senior consultant, for internal medicine, at the Apollo Hospitals, added that out of the 25 cases in the outpatient department (OPD) in the past one week, over 10 were related to respiratory infections. “Cases of viral fever and respiratory infections have seen a 30 per cent increase,” she said.

The drop in the temperature is the cause for the rise in cases of chest diseases and chronic upper respiratory diseases at the government-run Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD) within the past week. “The OPD has seen a 15% increase in cases. This is unusually high and obviously related to the cold weather. The OPD normally gets 240-250 patients a day, but the figure has crossed 280,” said Dr C Nagaraj, director, RGICD.

H1N1 adding to woes Doctors said H1N1 has also added to the flu burden. “While the number of H1N1 cases in previous years had come down by the latter half of winter, this year, the virus is still active,” said Dr Jyothsna.

In 2018, Karnataka had recorded 1,733 cases of H1N1 with 74 deaths. On the 1st January 2019, 21 positive cases have been reported. At RGICD, 3-4 cases of the H1N1 are treated every day. “The severity of cases has reduced as compared to previous months. But the infection is still affecting people,” said Dr Nagaraj.