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Mosquito-Borne Virus Infects Up to 45% of Indians, Agency Says
By Jason Gale
Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Chikungunya fever has infected as many as 45 percent of people in some areas of India in the country's worst epidemic of the mosquito-borne virus in decades, the World Health Organization said.
More than 1.25 million suspected cases have been reported since February, the WHO said in a statement yesterday. The disease, which is rarely life-threatening and causes severe joint pain and high fever, has spread to 151 districts in eight Indian states, and to some islands in the Indian Ocean.
``In some areas, reported attack rates have reached 45 percent,'' the United Nations agency said in the statement, posted on its Web site. ``After an interval of more than 20 years,'' chikungunya fever has been reported in India, Comoros, Mauritius, Reunion and Seychelles, it said.
The infection is complicating the diagnosis of dengue fever. An outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease, which causes similar symptoms, killed more than 50 people, India's health ministry said last week. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's grandsons Madhav and Rohan and son-in-law Vijay Tankha are among thousands of Indians who were checked for possible dengue fever.
In severe dengue cases, patients may bleed from the nose or gums, and possibly from internal organs. The loss of fluid from blood vessels may lead to failure of the circulatory system and shock, followed by death, if circulatory failure isn't corrected, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Clinical signs of chikungunya fever have to be distinguished from dengue fever, the WHO said. Co-occurrence of both fevers has been observed in patients in Maharashtra state, where 258,998 suspected chikungunya cases were reported.
Aedes Mosquitoes
The other affected states are Andhra Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Delhi.
The virus is transmitted by the Aedes mosquito, high densities of which have been found in the affected areas as well as in areas not affected by the disease, the WHO said.
``Individuals should take measures to protect themselves against the bites of the mosquitoes,'' which are active during the daytime, the Geneva-based agency said.
Chikungunya fever was recorded in India as early as 1824. Major epidemics appear cyclically, usually every seven-to-eight years and sometimes as long as 20 years.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jason Gale in Singapore at
By Jason Gale
Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Chikungunya fever has infected as many as 45 percent of people in some areas of India in the country's worst epidemic of the mosquito-borne virus in decades, the World Health Organization said.
More than 1.25 million suspected cases have been reported since February, the WHO said in a statement yesterday. The disease, which is rarely life-threatening and causes severe joint pain and high fever, has spread to 151 districts in eight Indian states, and to some islands in the Indian Ocean.
``In some areas, reported attack rates have reached 45 percent,'' the United Nations agency said in the statement, posted on its Web site. ``After an interval of more than 20 years,'' chikungunya fever has been reported in India, Comoros, Mauritius, Reunion and Seychelles, it said.
The infection is complicating the diagnosis of dengue fever. An outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease, which causes similar symptoms, killed more than 50 people, India's health ministry said last week. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's grandsons Madhav and Rohan and son-in-law Vijay Tankha are among thousands of Indians who were checked for possible dengue fever.
In severe dengue cases, patients may bleed from the nose or gums, and possibly from internal organs. The loss of fluid from blood vessels may lead to failure of the circulatory system and shock, followed by death, if circulatory failure isn't corrected, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Clinical signs of chikungunya fever have to be distinguished from dengue fever, the WHO said. Co-occurrence of both fevers has been observed in patients in Maharashtra state, where 258,998 suspected chikungunya cases were reported.
Aedes Mosquitoes
The other affected states are Andhra Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Delhi.
The virus is transmitted by the Aedes mosquito, high densities of which have been found in the affected areas as well as in areas not affected by the disease, the WHO said.
``Individuals should take measures to protect themselves against the bites of the mosquitoes,'' which are active during the daytime, the Geneva-based agency said.
Chikungunya fever was recorded in India as early as 1824. Major epidemics appear cyclically, usually every seven-to-eight years and sometimes as long as 20 years.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jason Gale in Singapore at
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