panaji is a colleague constantly coughing and sniffling next to you better watch out because this is the season of droplet infections an assortment of viral fevers and secondary bacterial infections are doing the rounds report city doctors we are seeing a large number of seasonal flu cases at least 30 of my daily practice consists of people with symptoms of fever cold cough body pain and runny nose says general physician dr oscar rebello viral infections are usually selflimiting and run their course within three to four days but flu symptoms in elderly people and diabetics often persist for even six days says dr rebello while doctors can only treat the symptoms they warn against selfmedication and indiscriminate popping of overthecounter drugs it is alright to treat a mild fever with otc drugs but if your symptoms persist for more than two days see a doctor warns dr rufino monteiro pointing out that a common flu if not treated properly could lead to pneumonia in older patients and small children this years flu seems quite debilitating and leaves patients feeling weak and tired we advise them to eat nutritious food and drink soups says monteiro influenza viruses thrive in wet humid weather and usually spread through infected droplets in the air people crammed into an airconditioned offices are twice as likely to contract an infection either directly breathing in the germs or from touching contaminated workstation surfaces doors and keyboards the trouble with selfmedication or pharmacistprescribed treatment for the flu is that patients sometimes tend to overdose on paracetamol says dr dhillon desai some people take a paracetemol to bring down temperature and then follow it up with an anticold pill for their runny nose and an antiinflammatory for body pain and headache this could be dangerous as both pills contain paracetamol desai explains one paracetemol every six hours is the standard adult dose with dengue fever also being reported dr rebello warns against selfmedicating a fever with an asprin if you have a fever do not take an asprin asprin and other antiinflammatory drugs like combiflam have an antiplatelet effect that could be potentially fatal in case the fever turns out to be dengue this is a common problem we are witnessing this month wherein patients are dosing themselves with asprin and painkillers on the first two days by the time they see a doctor and confirm dengue their platelet levels have already dropped to dangerously low levels he explains