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Chikungunya kills at least 300 people in India
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=488><TBODY><TR><TD class=black-head-news vAlign=top align=left colSpan=2 height=25>http://www.theindiancatholic.com/newsread.asp?nid=3662
Chikungunya kills at least 300 people in India
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=text colSpan=2 height=25>CHENNAI (ICNS) -- At least 300 people have died in the past three months in several Indian states due to Chikungunya, a rare form of viral fever caused by an alphavirus.
</TD></TR><TR><TR><TD class=text colSpan=2 height=26>A latest report from the federal Health Minsitry said that in the last three months nearly one million people have been sickened by the disease across the country. It said more than 300 people have died of the disease in the last three months.
Latest deaths due to chikungunya have come from the southern India state of Kerala. Health officials tackling the disease said some 22 people have died in the last two weeks and nearly 40,000 people are suffering from acute froms of viral fevers in Kerala?s Alappuzha district.
Kerala?s Health Minister P K Sreemathi said that some 18 people have died. But she said the government is yet to conclude whether the deaths were caused by the chikungunya disease.
She said health officials have collected blood samples of people hit with the viral fever to determine whether it is chikungunya.
The Kerala government has, however, decided to give financial aid of Rs.25,000 each to the families of those who have died due to suspected chikungunya disease.
K Velayudhan, chief medical officer of Kerala's Alappuzha district, said nearly 40,000 people were showing symptoms of the disease. ?Blood samples of nine people from Alappuzha had tested positive for chikungunya,? he said.
Chikungunya is a relatively rare form of viral fever caused by an alphavirus that is spread by mosquito bites from the Aedes aegypti mosquito, though recent research by the Pasteur Institute in Paris claims the virus has suffered a mutation that enables it to be transmitted by Aedes Albopictus (Tiger mosquito).
This was the cause of the actual plague in the Indian Ocean and a threat to the Mediterranean coast at present, requiring urgent meetings of health officials of France, Italy and Spain, but nothing seems to be moving that way.
Chikungunya is generally not fatal. However, in 2005-2006, 200 deaths have been associated with chikungunya on R?union island and a widespread outbreak in Southern India (especially in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka Kerala and Andhra Pradesh).
As of July 2006, Tamil Nadu reportedly had the largest number of cases, specifically centered around the southern districts of Madurai and Tirunelveli. The number of reported cases also registered a great increase in the districts of Salem, Chennai and Chengalpattu.
As of September 2006, after the flood and heavy rains in Rajasthan in August 2006, India, thousands cases been detected in Rajasamand, Bhilwara, Udaipur, Chittorgarh district. However surprisingly there is no mention of all these in media or by Government.
The symptoms of Chikungunya (also called as Chicken Guinea) include fever which can reach 39?C, (102.2 ?F) a petechial or maculopapular rash usually involving the limbs and trunk, and arthralgia or arthritis affecting multiple joints which can be debilitating.
The symptoms could also include headache, conjunctival infection and slight photophobia. In the present epidemic in the state of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu India, high fever and crippling joint pain are the prevalent complaint. Fever typically last for two days and abruptly comes down.
However, other symptoms, namely joint pain, intense headache, insomnia and an extreme degree of prostration lasts for a variable period, usually for about 5 to 7 days.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Chikungunya kills at least 300 people in India
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=text colSpan=2 height=25>CHENNAI (ICNS) -- At least 300 people have died in the past three months in several Indian states due to Chikungunya, a rare form of viral fever caused by an alphavirus.
</TD></TR><TR><TR><TD class=text colSpan=2 height=26>A latest report from the federal Health Minsitry said that in the last three months nearly one million people have been sickened by the disease across the country. It said more than 300 people have died of the disease in the last three months.
Latest deaths due to chikungunya have come from the southern India state of Kerala. Health officials tackling the disease said some 22 people have died in the last two weeks and nearly 40,000 people are suffering from acute froms of viral fevers in Kerala?s Alappuzha district.
Kerala?s Health Minister P K Sreemathi said that some 18 people have died. But she said the government is yet to conclude whether the deaths were caused by the chikungunya disease.
She said health officials have collected blood samples of people hit with the viral fever to determine whether it is chikungunya.
The Kerala government has, however, decided to give financial aid of Rs.25,000 each to the families of those who have died due to suspected chikungunya disease.
K Velayudhan, chief medical officer of Kerala's Alappuzha district, said nearly 40,000 people were showing symptoms of the disease. ?Blood samples of nine people from Alappuzha had tested positive for chikungunya,? he said.
Chikungunya is a relatively rare form of viral fever caused by an alphavirus that is spread by mosquito bites from the Aedes aegypti mosquito, though recent research by the Pasteur Institute in Paris claims the virus has suffered a mutation that enables it to be transmitted by Aedes Albopictus (Tiger mosquito).
This was the cause of the actual plague in the Indian Ocean and a threat to the Mediterranean coast at present, requiring urgent meetings of health officials of France, Italy and Spain, but nothing seems to be moving that way.
Chikungunya is generally not fatal. However, in 2005-2006, 200 deaths have been associated with chikungunya on R?union island and a widespread outbreak in Southern India (especially in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka Kerala and Andhra Pradesh).
As of July 2006, Tamil Nadu reportedly had the largest number of cases, specifically centered around the southern districts of Madurai and Tirunelveli. The number of reported cases also registered a great increase in the districts of Salem, Chennai and Chengalpattu.
As of September 2006, after the flood and heavy rains in Rajasthan in August 2006, India, thousands cases been detected in Rajasamand, Bhilwara, Udaipur, Chittorgarh district. However surprisingly there is no mention of all these in media or by Government.
The symptoms of Chikungunya (also called as Chicken Guinea) include fever which can reach 39?C, (102.2 ?F) a petechial or maculopapular rash usually involving the limbs and trunk, and arthralgia or arthritis affecting multiple joints which can be debilitating.
The symptoms could also include headache, conjunctival infection and slight photophobia. In the present epidemic in the state of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu India, high fever and crippling joint pain are the prevalent complaint. Fever typically last for two days and abruptly comes down.
However, other symptoms, namely joint pain, intense headache, insomnia and an extreme degree of prostration lasts for a variable period, usually for about 5 to 7 days.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
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