Tomato fever is misleading name for Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease, say doctors

A few days after a report in The Lancet issued an alert on the rising cases of tomato fever or tomato flu in India, doctors and health experts have called it a misleading colloquial name for Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD).Tomato fever is not a scientific name. It has been loosely used to describe a common mild viral illness called Hand Foot and Mouth disease, as per the experts. “Unfortunately, a recent publication in The Lancet claims that the lesions gradually enlarge to the size of a tomato, which is completely wrong, misleading and alarming,” experts said.

According to Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, a member of IMA in Kochi, “The illness is commonly caused by the Coxsackie virus which results in small 4-6 mm red spots on the skin that later become bubbles with fluid inside. The skin lesions can appear on the hands, feet and buttocks. It spreads by contact between young children and is self-limiting, requiring only supportive treatment. It has no connection with tomatoes.”

In the past few days, some reports have emerged from Kerela regarding a new endemic disease, by the name, tomato fever. “The community is just recovering from Covid and is therefore very sensitive and receptive to new endemics. Also, this type of news creates panic,” Dr Dhiren Gupta, paediatric intensivist, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, said.

A Lancet study revealed on Saturday that India has recorded as many as 82 cases of tomato flu or tomato fever since the virus was first reported in Kerala on May 6.According to the study, the common infectious disease targeting mostly children aged one to five years and immunocompromised adults could also be a new variant of Hand, Foot and Mouth disease.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by GOVT.in staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)