Even as swine flu has been taking its toll on the city in the last two months, two strains of the dengue virus have also been on the prowl, say city-based doctors.

So much so that dengue patients are being wrongly diagnosed for swine flu due to the similarity of the symptoms, says Dr Rajesh Gadia. Till mid-September, Dr Gadia has admitted 47 new patients to the KEM hospital.

Dr Sumeet Ingle from B T Kavde road points out that he has been admitting nearly eight patients at Shreenath hospital on a daily basis. “We are getting both viral fever cases and those with cough and vomiting. A new symptom with dengue this time is vomiting and each patient’s blood test report is being checked for the platelet count, says Ingle.

According to Gadia, a total of 39 patients were admitted to KEM in June, 37 in July and by mid-September there were 47 new cases. Not just dengue, but people are also reporting high-grade fever and severe joint pain symptoms akin to that of chikungunya, says Gadia.

Dr Prachi Sathe, Chief of the ICU at Ruby hall clinic too admits that there has been an increase in the number of dengue patients this year.

“We are getting patients even from Alandi, Baramati and Ahmednagar,” says Sathi adding that fortunately we do not have to admit everybody as some of the patients can be managed at home.

According to Dr Anil Khade, physician from Bhosari, which has seen several cases, if the platelet count is really low and the blood pressure has dipped then the patient is admitted to the hospital for treatment otherwise he/she can be treated at home.

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