Tomato flu: symptoms, transmission and what might be causing it

University of Brighton biomedical science fellow Sarah Pitt on the cause of this mysterious illness

A “new virus” called tomato flu has been reported in Kerala, India. According to an article in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, the first case of this mysterious illness was reported on 6 May. There have now been over 80 cases, with the disease spreading to other parts of India.

Most of those infected are children under the age of five, with symptoms including a high temperature, intense joint pain and a rash. The children also suffered an eruption of red, painful blisters that grew to the size of a tomato – hence the name.

Although the children can be unwell, there have been no reports of serious illness or death so far. Everyone seems to be recovering.

Doctors treating the children were unsure what was causing this illness. The temperature, aches and pains could be due to any number of infections. They speculated that it might be the result of some exotic-sounding viruses that are transmitted by mosquitoes, such as dengue and chikungunya – or even chickenpox.

They thought that perhaps the unusual tomato-shaped rash might be occurring because children were reacting differently to infections after they had Covid. Also, because of the large size of the spots, there was even a suggestion that it might be monkeypox.

Not a new disease

Scientists have been testing samples from children with tomato flu to try to identify the cause of the disease. Two children in the UK who developed suspected tomato flu symptoms after returning from a family holiday in Kerala were swabbed. The lab results revealed that they were infected with an enterovirus named coxsackie A16.

Coxsackie A16 causes hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD), so-called because the patient has blisters on the palms of their hands, soles of their feet and in their mouth.

So it seems that tomato flu is actually HFMD. It is not a type of influenza, has nothing to do with tomatoes and is not a new disease at all.

It is not in any way related to foot and mouth disease of cattle. It is usually mild and clears up by itself within a week or so, although pain relief can be helpful.

Article source: https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/science-health/957784/tomato-flu-symptoms-transmission-cause