Suspected cholera patient confirmed with dengue

Thiruvananthapuram: A suspected cholera patient, who was under treatment in the ICU of Medical College Hospital here has been confirmed positive for dengue. The health authorities are wary as it’s highly unlikely as no such cases were reported in the past.

A 24-year-old male hailing from West Bengal got admitted at the Medical College Hospital on May 19 with symptoms of cholera. The source of infection continues to be unknown.

According to authorities, he reached Kerala on May 17 from West Bengal. Following severe diarrhoea and vomiting, he sought treatment at a government hospital at Kilimanoor, the place where he works.  

“Clinically all symptoms indicated its cholera and hence the hospital referred the patient to the MCH, where he was admitted in the ICU. He is under close surveillance and now it’s impossible to do the lab test to confirm cholera as the treatment had already started,” said an official.  

It is learnt that the patient is still in the ICU and the condition has been improved, according to officials.

“The victim reached here after several days of travel with another five people. On the way, they have consumed food, water from various places. None of the others had shown any symptom. Everybody is under surveillance,” said the official.

“It could be from anywhere. But we have taken this seriously and more clinical investigations would be done to find out how this happened. Diarrhoea is one of the symptoms of dengue,” said the official.