90% chikungunya cases in over four months: PMC report

PUNE: The cases of chikungunya, a vector-borne ailment like dengue, surged considerably in the city in the past four months.


The city had recorded 44 chikungunya cases in August. The number jumped to 164 in September and to 273 in October.

In addition to a total of 1,219 “confirmed” cases of dengue, the city has registered 644 chikungunya cases so far this year. About 90% of the cases were recorded between July 1 and November 14, revealed the latest report of

Pune Municipal Corporation

(PMC). Compared to last year, the city recorded a perceptible rise in chikungunya cases this year.

Of the 644 chikungunya cases recorded between January 1 and November 14 this year, a total of 584 (90%) cases were registered in a little more than four-month period. Housing societies on the city’s periphery and some of the core city areas that reported maximum dengue cases are also the ones accounting for more cases of chikungunya.

“It is so because the Aedes aegypti

mosquito

is the vector for both dengue and chikungunya. Extended rain and flash floods led to water accumulation, creating fitting ground for mosquitoes to breed,” said Sanjeev Wavare, the head of the insect control department of the PMC.

The Aedes aegypti mosquitoes have adapted to breeding in and around human dwellings, and deposit eggs in any uncovered water container.

Wavare said, “Our health staffers are working on a war footing to destroy these breeding sites. However, breeding sites inside residential premises and housing societies led to substantial rise in cases. With the winter chill, cases of dengue and chikungunya have gone down this month and will drop further,” Wavare said.

Dengue is usually considered a bigger concern during monsoon. The Aedes aegypti mosquito transmits both dengue and chikungunya to humans. Hence, chikungunya cases are simultaneously on the rise with dengue. However, cases of dengue are always on the higher side than chikungunya.

Experts said unlike dengue, for which a patient’s blood sample is tested for confirmation, chikungunya is mostly clinically diagnosed by doctors based on a patient’s symptoms as fatal complications in chikungunya are considered a rarity.

“It often happens that a patient is prescribed symptomatic treatment without being subjected to any diagnostic tests. This is one of the reasons why many chikungunya cases can go unreported,” said senior family physician Avinash Bhondwe, president (elect), Indian Medical Association, Maharashtra branch.