Tomato Flu

Why in news?

• With cases of tomato flu reported from at least four states — Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, and Odisha — the Union Health Ministry on August 23 issued a set of guidelines on prevention, testing, and treatment of the infection.

What is Tomato Flu?

• The infection has been named ‘tomato flu’ because of the red, painful blisters that appear on a patient’s body and gradually enlarge to the size of a tomato.
• The ‘tomato flu’ is caused by Coxsackie virus.
• It belongs to the Enterovirus family, which are an ancient and important group of RNA viruses.
• Humans are the only hosts for the enteroviruses.
• The infectious disease is caused by intestinal viruses and is rare in adults as they usually have immune systems strong enough to defend them from the virus.

Transmission:

• Tomato flu is very contagious and children are at increased risk of exposure to tomato flu as viral infections are common in this age group and spread is likely to be through close contact.

Add ons:

• This flu is a self-limiting one and there is no specific drug for this.
• The treatment for tomato flu is similar to the treatment of chikungunya, dengue and hand, foot, and mouth disease.

PRACTICE QUESTION:

Consider the following statements regarding ‘Tomato Flu’:

1. It is a bacterial infection

2. It is highly contagious

3. It is rare in adults as they usually have immune systems strong enough to defend them from the virus

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

                            B

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