Chikungunya on feverish high with 311 cases so far

PUNE: Chikungunya has struck more people than dengue this year, so far.
As per the data of the National Institute of Virology (NIV), of the 586 samples screened here for chikungunya, 311 (54%) tested positive for the disease. In case of dengue, against a total of 588 samples, 188 (31%) tested positive for the ailment.
Incidentally, throughout last year, NIV had reported 44% chikungunya cases as against 47% dengue cases.
Health officials of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), however, contended that the sizable chunk of samples tested at NIV for chikungunya were from rural parts of Pune and to some extent "peripheral areas and not from the city."
NIV's data, however, assumes significance as general practitioners in the city have expressed concern over rise in confirmed cases of chikungunya along with an unprecedented rise in cases of atypical viral fever in which patient exhibits chikungunya-like symptoms, but test negative when screened.
According to PMC records, city has more dengue cases (a total of 1,462) than chikungunya (349).
When contacted, Kalpana Baliwant, head of the insect control department at PMC, said, "Chikungunya cases have been more in rural parts of Pune and city's peripheral areas like those near Shivane and Warje. Areas in the city have reported more cases of dengue than those of chikungunya. However, when compared to last year, there has been rise in chikungunya cases this year."
Baliwant said PMC's data of 349 confirmed cases of chikungunya this year so far are from sentinel centres at Naidu and Kamla Nehru hospitals.
District health officer Bhagwan Pawar, who looks after the healthcare services in rural parts of Pune district, said, "Outbreaks of chikungunya have been reported from Kondhwe Dhawade, Uttamnagar and Shivane this year. During this time, we had sent samples of suspected cases of chikungunya patients to NIV for testing. And huge chunk of people residing in these areas were found positive for chikungunya."
Chikungunya also known as brake-bone disease is highly debilitating and does not have any specific treatment or vaccine.
Chikungunya virus has two distinct lineages. One containing all isolates from western Africa and the second comprising all southern and East African strains, as well as isolates from Asia.
"The currently circulating chikungunya genotype is East Central South African," states the NIV report. The genotype has been there in India for last several years now.
ON A FEVERISH HIGH
* Chikungunya is a relatively rare form of viral fever caused by an alphavirus that is spread by bite of an infected Aedes aegypti mosquito
* This virus is an arthropod-borne alphavirus (family Togaviridae) comprising three genotypes - West African, East/Central/South African and Asian
* It is no stranger to the Indian sub-continent. Since its first isolation in Calcutta in 1963, there have been several reports of chikungunya virus infection in different parts of the country
Clinical side
* The symptoms are most often clinically indistinguishable from those observed in dengue fever. Therefore, it is important to clinically distinguish dengue from chikungunya virus infection
* Unlike dengue, haemorrhagic manifestations are relatively rare and as a rule shock is not observed in chikungunya infection
Symptoms
Symptoms appear between four and seven days after the patient has been bitten by the infected mosquito and include:
* High fever (40°C/ 104°F)
* Joint pain (lower back, ankle, knees, wrists or phalanges)
* Joint swelling
* Rash
* Headache
* Muscle pain
* Nausea
* Fatigue
Precautions
The proximity of mosquito vector breeding sites to human habitation is a significant risk factor for chikungunya as well as for other diseases that these species transmit
Prevention and control relies heavily on reducing the number of natural and artificial water-filled container habitats that support breeding of the mosquitoes. This requires mobilization of affected communities
During outbreaks, insecticides may be sprayed to kill flying mosquitoes, applied to surfaces in and around containers where the mosquitoes land, and used to treat water in containers to kill the immature larvae
(Source: World Health Organization)