Tomato fever is not the correct term for ‘Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease’; Claim Doctors

A few days after a report in The Lancet issued an alert about rising cases of tomato fever or tomato flu in India, doctors and health experts called it a misleading colloquial name for Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease (HFMD).

Tomato fever does not have a scientific name. According to experts, it has been loosely used to describe a common mild viral illness known as Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease. ‘ Unfortunately, a recent publication in The Lancet claims that the lesions gradually enlarge to the size of a tomato, which is completely false, misleading, and alarming,’ experts said.

According to Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, a member of the IMA in Kochi, ‘The Coxsackie virus is commonly responsible for the illness, which causes small 4-6 mm red spots on the skin to turn into bubbles with fluid inside. Skin lesions can appear on the hands, feet, and buttocks. It spreads through contact between young children and is self-limiting, requiring only supportive care. It has absolutely nothing to do with tomatoes’.

In recent days, there have been reports from Kerela of a new endemic disease known as tomato fever. ‘Because the community is still recovering from Covid, it is extremely sensitive and receptive to new endemics. This type of news also causes panic’, Dr. Dhiren Gupta, a pediatric intensivist at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, stated.

‘It appears to be a form of HFMD with additional symptoms of joint pain and high fever. In any case, HFMD is a syndrome that can be caused by a variety of enteroviruses. Symptoms vary depending on the type of virus, the patient’s age, and his or her immunity status. It is not generally life-threatening in the general population’, Dhiren Gupta stated

Fever can also cause rashes on the hands, feet, and buttocks, as well as mouth ulcers. According to a Lancet study published on Saturday, India has recorded 82 cases of tomato flu or tomato fever since the virus was first identified in Kerala on May 6. Based on the research, the common infectious disease, which primarily affects children aged one to five years old and immunocompromised adults, could also be a new variant of Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease.