Researchers in India are sounding the alarm for what they describe as a “new” disease called “tomato flu” or “tomato fever”. The cause of the infectious disease that causes red blisters that can grow to the size of a small tomato is currently unknown, but some researchers suspect it may be related to other diseases known to spread in the area.
Three scientists, writing in the Lancet journal Respiratory Medicine, reported that more than 100 children younger than 5 years old have contracted the infection in the Indian states of Kerala and Odisha. It was first reported on May 6 in the Kollam district of Kerala, after which it was reported in some villages in the state and the city of Bhubaneswar in Odisha.
Children with tomato flu are said to experience a range of flu-like symptoms, including fever and body aches. However, it is stated that the most distinctive feature is the “burst of red and painful blisters gradually reaching the size of a tomato on the body”.
The report says the disease is “very contagious” but not life-threatening, relatively mild, and lasts seven to 10 days.
Professor Vasso Apostolopoulos, study author and Leader of the Immunology and Translation Group at Victoria University, said: “Right now the virus appears to have subsided and disappeared on its own, but most people who get this infection are young and we really don’t know what might happen in an immunocompromised person or if it spreads to older people. “At the moment it is still isolated and does not appear to have spread outside of India.”
A diagnosis of tomato flu is made after tests confirm that the infection is not dengue, chikungunya, Zika virus, varicella-zoster virus, or herpes. However, as the study notes, the symptoms could possibly be related to other diseases not tested, including hand, foot, and mouth disease.
Apart from these, details about the disease are very few. While public health agencies monitor the spread of cases, scientists are still working on isolating and analyzing the pathogen that is absolutely vital to the full understanding and control of this mysterious infection.
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