Kolkata, Jul 15 (PTI) The West Bengal health department is planning to formulate new protocols to help medical professionals distinguish between COVID-19 and dengue, as both have similar symptoms, a senior official said on Wednesday.

The protocols will also assist doctors to treat patients diagnosed with both the diseases, he said.

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A team has been constituted under Director of Health Services Ajay Chakraborty to look into the proposed procedures, the official said.

"Since early June, we have been witnessing cases of both COVID-19 and dengue from districts like North 24 Parganas, Hooghly and Howrah. In these districts, doctors often find it difficult to differentiate between the two diseases. So, we have decided to form a set of protocols to help them," he said.

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The team is also working on creating guidelines for management of comorbid conditions of patients affected with both coronavirus and dengue.

"The protocols will also provide guidelines to doctors about prescribing medicines to such patients," the official said, adding, district health workers will be trained for this via video conference.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)