A novel infectious disease is currently spreading in India. It manifests itself as a severe rash, and those infected have blisters on the skin that can swell to the size of a tomato. Only children have been affected so far, and there are still no effective antidotes.
Red, painful blisters that spread all over the body and can swell to the size of a tomato: This is what the rash looks like on a person infected with tomato fever. The novel virus owes its name to its visual resemblance to the tomato.
After Corona and monkeypox, a new infectious disease has emerged in the form of tomato flu. While countries around the world are preparing for the fourth corona wave, parents and doctors in the Indian state of Kerala are now also fearing tomato fever. So far there are 108 known cases of infected children.
Three doctors, Vivek Chavda, Kaushika Patel and Vasso Apostolopoulus, now report in the medical journal “The Lancet” about the new disease, which has so far affected 82 children under the age of five in Kerala. According to reports, the virus has now also caught children in the neighboring Indian states of Tamilnadu and Odisha, in Odisha the “Regional Medical Research Center” has diagnosed 26 other infections in children aged one to nine years.
Tomato flu got its name from the outbreak of red, painful blisters that can appear anywhere on the body and gradually swell to the size of a tomato. The characteristics of the blisters are reminiscent of the skin problems caused by the monkeypox virus in young adults.
According to initial findings, there is no relationship between the coronavirus and tomato fever, but the symptoms can be similar to those of Covid-19.
Those affected mentioned the following symptoms most frequently:
As with Corona, other symptoms are similar to those that can also result from a flu virus. The origin of the virus has not yet been precisely proven. One assumption of the scientists is that the tomato flu is a new variant of the hand, foot and mouth disease (also called “false foot-and-mouth disease”). Hand, foot, and mouth disease also predominantly affects children aged one to five years, although cases have also been reported in immunocompromised and immunocompromised adults.
Symptomatically similar diseases such as dengue fever, the chikungunya virus, the Zika virus, an infection with varicella zoster viruses and the herpes virus must be ruled out beforehand by means of serological tests, usually blood tests. Only then can the tomato flu be positively diagnosed.
Young children are particularly at risk of becoming infected. Close contact with other children in the age group favors the spread of the virus. According to the physicians of the “Lancet” journal, the infection can be transmitted to children in particular by touching shared surfaces. They also warn that children should not put toys in their mouths in kindergartens and playgrounds and should not share food with their peers.
However, the disease is not considered life-threatening.
As with all viral infections, medical therapies and vaccinations are the most promising ways to prevent infection or to moderate the course of an infection. So far, however, there is no effective vaccine against tomato flu.
Even if the tomato flu is highly contagious like other types of flu, the infectious disease, which has only occurred sporadically up to now, is currently considered endemic (i.e. occurring locally).
So far there have been no reported cases of tomato flu in Germany. A publication in The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal on August 19 reported two infected children in the UK. The affected patients contracted the virus on a trip to Kerala in May, but have since recovered.
Our team of experts has compiled more than 1,700 excellent clinics for you, divided according to indications and regions.
Due to the close similarity with hand, foot and mouth disease and dengue and chikungunya fever, doctors recommend treating tomato flu in a similar way to these diseases:
Surf tip: Corona Age – German Angst and Freedom Day: What the terms mean
