Two more states in India now affected by tomato flu outbreak 

While the Covid-19 pandemic is still plaguing the world, a new virus known as tomato flu or tomato fever is spreading in India.

The new virus, which was discovered in children in the state of Kerala in southern India in May, has now spread to two more states.

The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, a medical journal, reported that as of July 26, 2022, more than 82 children under the age of five had been diagnosed with the infection in the Kollam district of Kerala, which is where the tomato flu was first discovered on May 6, 2022.

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Although the virus typically affects children under the age of five, cases of this dangerous disease have now been reported in the neighbouring stateof Tamil Nadu and Odisha in the east, where children as young as nine have been infected.

Researchers are still working to pinpoint the nature of this virus.It is extremely contagious and has been dubbed "tomato flu" due to the painful red blisters it causes on the body.

Because it spreads quickly through close contact, such as through nappy use, touching dirty surfaces, or putting things in mouth, children are especially vulnerable.

Symptoms

Although the symptoms of the tomato flu virus resemble those of COVID-19 (both are initially accompanied by fever, exhaustion, and body aches, and some COVID-19 patients also report skin rashes), the virus is unrelated to SARS-CoV-2. Tomato flu may not actually be a viral infection in children, but rather a complication of dengue or chikungunya fever.

Along with a fever, exhaustion, and body aches, other symptoms include rashes that cause skin irritation. Along with other viral infections, dengue shares common influenza-like symptoms that are similar to nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, dehydration, swelling of the joints, and body aches.

(With inputs from agencies)

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