Although the State Health Department stopped COVID bulletins in November, and has started posting weekly infectious disease reports on its website, the reports do not have COVID-19 data.
After consistently releasing daily COVID bulletins for nearly 33 months, the Health Department stopped the daily updates on November 7. Instead, COVID data will be updated on the Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP) on a daily basis.
However, COVID data is missing in the five weekly reports that have been uploaded so far.
“As communicated by ICMR Director General on November 7, the details regarding COVID-19 testing and positive cases will not be available temporarily in the portal due to technical issues in the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) portal. States have been asked to establish their own system of collecting data. Currently, Karnataka is working on collecting testing data manually from all districts,” a senior official in the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) told The Hindu.
Sources said it may take six weeks for COVID data to be included in the weekly infectious disease reports. “Currently, Karnataka is reconciling testing and positive cases reports through ICMR’s covid19cc portal that is used by the sample collection centres to enter data,” the sources informed.
Travel comes with risk of spread of virus
Meanwhile, hospitals are seeing a rise in patients reporting Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) and influenza-like Illness (ILI), especially after travel. Doctors said travel is recognised as a potential risk, as viruses can be transmitted during transit. Early diagnosis and treatment can help prevent complications and further spread of the viruses.
According to the 48th weekly infectious disease report, 133 SARI and 46 influenza cases have been reported in Karnataka in the week ending December 3. Since November 6, a total of 642 SARI cases and 337 influenza cases have been reported in Karnataka. As many as 9,166 SARI and 3,463 influenza cases have been reported in Karnataka in 2023.
The State-run Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD) has observed an over-10% rise in patients reporting respiratory infections. Institute Director Nagaraja C. said common symptoms include fever associated with cough, sore throat, runny nose, body aches, upper respiratory tract infection, and fatigue.
The weather factor in Bengaluru
Sachin Kumar, Senior Consultant, Pulmonology and Critical Care Medicine at Sakra World Hospital, attributed the rise in cases to a dip in temperature. “We are seeing nearly 10 patients daily in the out-patient department. Those with pre-existing asthma, bronchitis and children are significantly affected.”
Brunda M.S., Consultant, Internal Medicine at Aster CMI Hospital, is seeing a significant surge in respiratory infections, mainly pneumonia, lower and upper respiratory tract infection. “We are seeing over six cases a day. This is mainly due to the fluctuating weather. The rapid shift in temperature, with warm days and cool evenings has created an environment conducive for the spread of viruses. Cooler and less humid air can allow viruses to survive longer outside the body, increasing transmission risk,” she said.
