The first few Covid and dengue co-infection cases reported in north Bengal have left the medical community in the region concerned.

A 40-year-old resident of Malbazaar and another 41- year-old person of Nagrakata, both in Jalpaiguri district, had been diagnosed with both Covid-19 and dengue. They underwent treatment in the designated hospital for Covid patients at the Biswa Bangla Kriangan in Jalpaiguri.

“The health department took all the necessary steps as soon as the two co-infection cases were detected. Both the patients have now recovered and were discharged from the hospital,” said the officer on special duty for Covid-19 in north Bengal, Dr Susanta Kumar Roy.

According to sources, the 40-year-old person had been diagnosed with Covid-19 first, while he had been tested positive for dengue too three days later.

In the case of the 41-yearold, he had been tested positive for dengue first, while he tested positive for the novel coronavirus a day later. In the midst of the worsening Covid-19 situation, the co-infections can pose a problem for diagnosis and treatment, public health specialists have said.

They said it was difficult to differentiate between symptoms of the two diseases because of primary clinical presentations, and warned that the combination could enhance the severity of both diseases. Meanwhile, seven dengue patients were admitted in the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH) recently.

Among the patients, some were from Kharibari in Darjeeling district, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri and North Dinajpur.

“The clinical features of both infections are overlapping. The co-infection can present a diagnostic challenge. Dengue season has started and it will mean huge pressure on the health department if there is a spurt in the co-infection cases,” said a public health expert.

“The state government has already issued guidelines and protocols to hospitals for treating such cases and creating awareness. Awareness campaigns are being extensively conducted. Hospitals have been instructed about how to handle Covid, dengue and co-infection cases,” Dr Roy said.

It may be noted here that the Union ministry of health and family welfare has also issued guidelines for the management of co-infection of Covid-19 and dengue, malaria and other seasonal epidemic-prone diseases and has alerted about severe Covid19 and dengue case surge.

Entomologists say Siliguri is a dengue-endemic region. The disease had claimed around six lives, while more than 1300 people were tested positive for its virus in the Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) area last year. Cases of vector-borne diseases like dengue go up after the monsoon.

October and November are considered important months as there are spurts of dengue cases during this time. Darjeeling district has recorded around 13,000 Covid19 cases, which is the highest among districts in north Bengal.

There are around 1500 active cases and more than 140 people have died so far. The International Journal of Infectious Diseases, which is published monthly by the International Society for Infectious Diseases, has pointed out a study that says co-infection could present a diagnostic challenge.