A mysterious breast infection seems to be affecting more and more women in the Maharashtrian city of Pune. A report in The Times of India says that the infection is most prevalent in women in their 20s and 30s, and some of the symptoms resemble those of breast cancer. But while doctors don't know the cause of this infection, they are certain that it is not cancer.
Twenty eight-year-old Prajakta Jadhav, one of the women affected by this mystery illness, says that she noticed a lump in her breast in October last year. “It was swollen and misshapen, there was discharge oozing out. I took some painkillers and hoped it would recede. Instead, it got worse and I became sick and nauseous.” When she visited an oncologist, Jadhav was told it was a severe infection and that pus had formed in her breast. “I underwent surgery to drain out the pus, but am still unaware of why it happened. I am not lactating and am quite hygiene-conscious,” she says.
Doctors say that such infections are seen in lactating mothers, and patients of tuberculosis and diabetes. But the current patients of this infection in Pune have no history of these diseases and are not lactating, which has alarmed medical professionals across the city. Doctors say that in the last five years, the cases of this infection have increased by over 50 percent.
Senior breast cancer surgeon Dr CB Koppiker says, “Cases were reported in the past too, but not with such severity and large numbers. Every month, we see around six new cases and 15 to 30 coming back from before. It resembles breast TB but it isn't that and we cannot come up with a concrete reason. Many a time, due to a misdiagnosis, patients go straight for surgery. But if this is picked up on early, this isn't required.”
Some experts say that an imbalance in hormones can cause a lump in the breast but they also agree that the infection needs to be studied extensively to ascertain a cause.
