Hyderabad is experiencing an increase in chikungunya infections among children, coinciding with rising dengue cases. According to a local doctor, many children have been diagnosed with both diseases over the past two to three weeks.
Dr. Shivaranjani Santosh noted that while children are showing symptoms such as fever, body aches, and joint pains, these are generally less severe compared to adults. “The majority of high fever cases are either dengue or chikungunya,” she said, adding that some cases of hand, foot, and mouth disease have also been reported.
While not all suspected cases are tested for dengue and chikungunya, clinical diagnosis typically identifies one of the two. “Since we treat symptoms for both, confirmatory testing is often unnecessary, and children usually recover within three to seven days,” a doctor at Niloufer Hospital explained.
Experts also mentioned that there are cases of viral or seasonal flu, but these are less frequent than dengue and chikungunya infections.