H3N2 virus scare: Doctors notice ‘additional symptom’ in ongoing flu episode in India

The H3N2 influenza virus has become a matter of concern with hospitalisations rising among flu patients this season across the country.

Doctors are seeing an increase in the number of patients coming in and reporting pneumonia-like conditions.

However, patients have been also complaining about another previously unreported symptom in this flu episode, which is ear fullness.

Doctors are calling it an ‘additional symptom”. Patients are experiencing fullness in the ears around day five or day six of the illness. The symptom is being reported more commonly in young adults.

“Fullness of ear is an additional symptom noticed in this episode of flu,” Rajiv Gupta who is Consultant – Internal Medicine at CK Birla Hospital was quoted as saying by IANS. He added, “Many patients at day five or six of the illness start complaining of fullness in the ears or feel like something is blocked inside the ears. It is more common in young adults.”

Ear fullness is experienced when a person’s ears feel plugged, as per the Mayo Clinic. It can happen when a person’s eustachian tubes, which connect the middle ears to the back of the nose and throat, encounter blockage. This may lead a person to feel pressure in their ears and have a “feeling of fullness”. Ear fullness can also have accompanying symptoms like suppressed hearing, dizziness and pain in ears.

Meanwhile, states and Centre are on alert and monitoring the situation of seasonal flu cases closely. The Health Ministry sent out a word of caution to all states last week after India reported its first two deaths due to H3N2, the dominant seasonal influenza subtype in the ongoing flu episode. People have been advised to maintain personal hygiene, wash hands regularly, wear masks and avoid crowded places till cases of H3N2 wane, precautions similar to what was suggested to keep the Covid-19 virus at bay.