Tomato flu in India: Lancet report raise concerns over latest outbreak

The Lancet Respiratory Journal has issued a warning to India over tomato fever, a contagious disease, raising serious health concerns among experts as there is no specific drug to treat it yet.

Known as tomato fever or tomato flu, it typically spreads among kids between 1 to 5 years of age. So far, India has reported 80 kids below the age of 5 infected with the disease.

What is tomato fever?

Tomato fever is caused by the intestinal viruses. It is also believed to be a variation of hand, foot and mouth disease and an aftereffect of Chikungunya and dengue.

Symptoms of tomato fever

The disease causes fever, diarrhoea, vomiting, body ache and discoloration of the skin on hands and feet, joint pain, and rashes.

How does tomato fever spread?

Tomato flu, like other viral fevers, spreads through close contact. Like touching unclean surfaces, putting things directly in your mouth, sharing items with the infected kid.

How to diagnose tomato fever?

Symptomatic kids are tested for dengue, chikungunya, zika virus, varicella-zoster virus, and herpes. Once these viral infections are ruled out, contraction of tomato virus is confirmed, the Lancet study notes.

Treatment of tomato fever

Treatment of Tomato fever is similar to Chikungunya and dengue. The Lancet Respiratory Journal suggests hot water sponge, isolation, rest and plenty of fluids to treat the disease.

Amid the ongoing outbreak the experts have warned that without any preventive measures the disease can lead to a massive outbreak by spreading among adults. The first case of tomato fever was reported in Kerala’s Kollam district in May this year.

Since then, the disease has spread to Tamil Nadu and Odisha. However, as a matter of relief, the disease has not yet spread to other states.