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Tomato Flu: The rising cases of Tomato flu has become a major concern for the health experts. The country is on high alert after 82 children below the age of five sickened by the illness in southern states, especially in Kerala, with another 26 children reported sick in eastern Odisha. Owing to the surge in the cases, the Centre has issued testing and prevention guidelines to states following a surge of a new influenza virus variant, commonly known as tomato flu, with more than 100 infections reported among children over the last few months.
The first case of tomato flu was reported in Kollam district of Kerala on May 6 this year and as of July 26, more than 82 children aged below five years have been reported to have contracted the infection by the local government hospitals.
The other affected areas of Kerala are Anchal, Aryankavu, and Neduvathur. This endemic viral illness triggered an alert in the neighbouring states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Additionally, 26 children (aged one to nine years) have been reported as having the disease in Odisha by the Regional Medical Research Union government in Bhubaneswar. Apart from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Odisha, no other region in India has reported the disease.
According to the advisory: “It seems, the disease is a clinical variant of the so-called hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD) that is common in school going children. Infants and young children are also prone to this infection through use of nappies, touching unclean surfaces as well as putting things directly into the mouth.”
HFMD occurs mainly in children under 10 years of age, but it can occur in adults too.
There are no disease-specific medications available, the advisory said, adding that treatment is similar to other viral infections — isolation, rest, plenty of fluids and hot water sponge for relief of irritation and rashes.
Supportive therapy of paracetamol for fever and body ache and other symptomatic treatments are required.
The advisory also said that isolation should be followed for five to seven days from onset of any symptom to prevent the spread of infection to other children or adults.
The advisory highlighted that the best solution for prevention is maintenance of proper hygiene and sanitization of the surrounding necessities as well as preventing the infected child from sharing toys, clothes, food, with other non-infected children.
Listing out the preventive measures, the advisory said one should avoid immediate contact with the infected person.
“Tell your child not to hug or touch children having fever or rash symptoms. You should encourage your children to stop thumb or finger sucking habits. Encourage the child to use a handkerchief in case of running nose or coughing,” it read.
The advisory also stated that one should not scratch or rub the blister. It also said that children should be kept hydrated.
“Always use warm water to clean skin or for bathing the child. Take a nutrition-rich, balanced diet to boost immunity. It is essential to get enough rest and sleep to promote healing,” it said.
Till now, no antiviral drugs or vaccines are available for the treatment or prevention of tomato flu.
Samples from throat or stool may be sent to a laboratory to test for isolating the virus involved in causing the illness, which may take two to four weeks to obtain the laboratory results.
The testing should be done for the investigation of an outbreak so that preventive measures can be initiated, the advisory said.
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