Tomato flu not related to Covid-19, Monkeypox; Health Ministry issues advisory to people: After Kerala, tomato flu is spreading rapidly in other states of the country. This disease is taking small children in its grip. After the corona virus and monkeypox, people are now worried about the tomato flu.
In this, children from 1 to 5 years are getting infected rapidly. Till July, more than 82 children under the age of 5 were found infected only in Kollam, Kerala, but now this infection is spreading in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Haryana as well. In Odisha, the number of children infected with tomato flu is 26, which includes children in the age group of 1 to 9 years. Some people are thinking of tomato flu as related to Covid-19 and monkeypox.
Union Ministry issues advisory
The Union Health Ministry has said that tomato flu can be a variant of common hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD), which is common in school going children. This virus is not related to SARS-CoV-2, Monkeypox, Dengue or Chikungunya at all.
The ministry has said that recent reports have suggested it to be Coxsackie A17, which belongs to the group of enteroviruses. This disease is also known as tomato flu. Guidelines have been issued by the government regarding the testing, prevention and treatment of hand, foot, mouth disease.
What is tomato flu
This disease is called hand, foot and mouth disease, which is a clinical variant. This is a common infection that spreads mostly in children of 1-10 years old or in those who have very weak immunity. Right now there is no specific medicine for this disease, it gets cured on its own in a few days. Tomato flu is a viral disease in which tomato-sized blisters appear on many parts of the body. That is why it has been named tomato flu.
Symptoms of tomato flu
The primary symptoms of tomato flu are similar to those of other viral infections, with symptoms such as fever, skin rash, and joint pain and skin irritation.
Like other viral infections, it causes fatigue, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, fever, dehydration, joint swelling, body aches and general influenza-like symptoms. Symptoms such as fever, mouth sores and skin rash are the most important in HFMD, the health department said.