AHMEDABAD

[Snowy Owl]

AHMEDABAD - Disease panic
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1945305.cms

AHMEDABAD: It is not just chikun gunia that is morbid, the fear of chikun gunia can prove dangerous too. A local doctor had to be hospitalised and put on a life support after he developed a severe allergic reaction to mosquito repellent, which he liberally sprayed to keep the chikun gunia spreading aedes aegypti mosquito at bay!

Alarmed by the widespread outbreak of the viral fever caused by biting of aedes aegypti mosquito, many people across the city have gone into overdrive lighting up repellents and undertaking even home-based methods like burning neem leaves to shoo away mosquitoes.

This senior doctor, according to Sterling Hospital sources, was spraying a mosquito repellent solution in his room, when he suddenly developed an allergic reaction and started gasping for breath.

"The doctor suffered respiratory distress syndrome and put on a ventilator," a doctor at Sterling Hospital told TOI. Meanwhile, there is large-scale panic about the disease in the city.

In fact, in the walled city, people are prompted to attribute almost every fever and illness to chikun gunia. On Wednesday, parents of Sachin Panwar, residing in Hatkeshwar, too attributed their child's death to chikun gunia.

The doctors, however, claimed that the child had a history of asthma and suffered septicaemia. On the other hand, cashing in on the fear factor a number of alternative medicine systems have come up with treatments that people can take as a precaution.

If the homeopathy system is selling a four-day dose of medicine to prevent chikun gunia, ayurvedic doctors are also handing out a prescription of onion juice, dry ginger, black pepper powder and even tea powder.

[Snowy Owl]

Re: AHMEDABAD - Disease panic

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="467"><tbody><tr valign="top"><td colspan="3">After floods, sudden deaths put the fear back into Surtis
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=199251
</td></tr> <tr valign="top"><td colspan="3" height="10">
</td></tr> <tr valign="top"><td colspan="3">6 die in four days, residents fear plague; medical experts are divided: is it leptospirosis or is it dengue?</td></tr> <tr valign="top"><td colspan="3" height="10">
</td></tr><tr valign="top"><td colspan="3">Melvyn Thomas</td></tr> <tr valign="top"><td colspan="3" height="10">
</td></tr><tr valign="top"> <td colspan="3"> Surat, August 31:

Struggling to cope with the devastation wreaked by the floods, Surat now finds itself facing the spectre of sudden death. In the last four days, six people, including three teenagers, have died hours after they displayed these symptoms: high fever, muscle ache and coughing up blood. Now, fear stalks Badekha Chakla. People are panic-stricken and believe that the plague ghost is here to haunt them again.

However, experts have clarified that this disease is not plague. Most said that the symptoms seem similar to a form of leptospirosis, while others said it was dengue.

President of Indian Medical Association (Surat chapter), Dr Nirmal Choraria, who is coordinating with the health authority, said, ‘‘It is leptospirosis, and not any other disease.’’

That hasn’t pacified the scared residents, who’re worried that this ‘‘new disease’’ will add to their problems.

They list the cases:
Mohammed Sufiyan Sheikh (12) of Dhingli Falia in Badekha Chakla went to Sardar Bridge with his father on Sunday as he wanted to have a look at the Tapi. The next day, he developed high fever, followed by muscle ache and blood in sputum. He was rushed to Lokhat General Hospital on Tuesday night, In six hours, he was dead. Cause of death: not known.

Irfan Haider Navsariwala (24), a resident of Kabootarkhana in Badekha Chakla, was actively involved in relief work during the floods. Irfan, who is survived by wife and two-year-old daughter, was admitted to New Civil hospital with the same symptoms. He died eight hours later. Cause of death: unknown.

Kasim Sabbir Malbari (16) was vomiting blood when his father, Sabbir Malbari, took him to a private hospital. He was shifted to New Civil Hospital where he died on August 28 in a few hours. Cause of death: not known.

Saleem Abdul Razzak Tailor (13) also died after displaying the same symptoms. His elder brother, Gulam Moiuddin, blood was spurting out of his mouth and nose. Cause of death: doctors said it was pneumonia.

Mohammed Ismail, younger brother of Irfan Navsariwala, said, ‘‘First he (Irfan) got mild fever and we took him to our family doctor. The next day, he woke up with high fever followed by pain in his muscles. Suddenly, his health deteriorated and he started vomiting blood. In six to seven hours, he died.’’

Ismail added, ‘‘Doctors said he must have died of leptospirosis. But I have seen lepto patients recovering in New Civil hospital, then how can my brother die so early ?’’

Asked why people were dying within hours of displaying the symptoms, Dr Choraria said, ‘‘This is due to an early manifestation of leptospira virus. The virus attacks the lungs, causing the patient to vomit blood. By the time he’s brought to hospital, there’s no time for treatment.’’

Saleem Qureshi, a relative of Usman Qureshi (40), who died two days ago with the same symptoms, said, ‘‘When I visited some four days ago, he was perfectly okay. The next day, I heard he was ill. I thought he would recover, but he died in hospital.’’ Doctors are divided whether the disease is lepto or dengue.

Dr Atul Patel, Infectious Disease specialist at Vedant Institute of Medical Science, said, ‘‘High fever, muscle pain, blood in sputum accompanied by low platelet count and jaundice can cause the death of the patient in a few hours.’’
Dr Pratibha Dilip Of Sterling Hospital’s critical care unit said, ‘‘The symptoms suggest that the cases are not of plague. Either it is leptospirosis or dengue.’’

Experts said there is a need to identify the viral infection and the syndrome at the earliest. Said Dr Patel, ‘‘It can be verified through leptospirosiriology, a test for any recent infection of leptospira.’’ He added: ‘‘The presence of virus can also be checked by a urine test.’’

Meanwhile, residents of Badekha Chakla are complaining about the filth and squalor in the area. They had also protested against those who were keeping cattle in open sheds.

Tarique Shaikh, a shop owner at Badekha Chakla, said, ‘‘It took the death of six people for the SMC to demolish the illegal cattlesheds in our area. The area was stinking.’’

Another resident, Moin Sheikh, said, ‘‘It’s scary. We don’t know why people are dying. We know that they vomit blood, have high fever and die within six to seven hours.’’
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[HenryN]

Re: AHMEDABAD - Disease panic

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="467"><tbody><tr valign="top"><td colspan="3">After floods, sudden deaths put the fear back into Surtis
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=199251

</td></tr><tr valign="top"><td colspan="3" height="10">

</td></tr><tr valign="top"><td colspan="3">6 die in four days, residents fear plague; medical experts are divided: is it leptospirosis or is it dengue?</td></tr><tr valign="top"><td colspan="3" height="10">

</td></tr><tr valign="top"><td colspan="3">Melvyn Thomas</td></tr><tr valign="top"><td colspan="3" height="10">

</td></tr><tr valign="top"><td colspan="3">Surat, August 31:

Struggling to cope with the devastation wreaked by the floods, Surat now finds itself facing the spectre of sudden death. In the last four days, six people, including three teenagers, have died hours after they displayed these symptoms: high fever, muscle ache and coughing up blood. Now, fear stalks Badekha Chakla. People are panic-stricken and believe that the plague ghost is here to haunt them again.



They list the cases:
Mohammed Sufiyan Sheikh (12) of Dhingli Falia in Badekha Chakla went to Sardar Bridge with his father on Sunday as he wanted to have a look at the Tapi. The next day, he developed high fever, followed by muscle ache and blood in sputum. He was rushed to Lokhat General Hospital on Tuesday night, In six hours, he was dead. Cause of death: not known.

Irfan Haider Navsariwala (24), a resident of Kabootarkhana in Badekha Chakla, was actively involved in relief work during the floods. Irfan, who is survived by wife and two-year-old daughter, was admitted to New Civil hospital with the same symptoms. He died eight hours later. Cause of death: unknown.

Kasim Sabbir Malbari (16) was vomiting blood when his father, Sabbir Malbari, took him to a private hospital. He was shifted to New Civil Hospital where he died on August 28 in a few hours. Cause of death: not known.

Saleem Abdul Razzak Tailor (13) also died after displaying the same symptoms. His elder brother, Gulam Moiuddin, blood was spurting out of his mouth and nose. Cause of death: doctors said it was pneumonia.


Dr Atul Patel, Infectious Disease specialist at Vedant Institute of Medical Science, said, ??High fever, muscle pain, blood in sputum accompanied by low platelet count and jaundice can cause the death of the patient in a few hours.??
Dr Pratibha Dilip Of Sterling Hospital?s critical care unit said, ??The symptoms suggest that the cases are not of plague. Either it is leptospirosis or dengue.??


Another resident, Moin Sheikh, said, ??It?s scary. We don?t know why people are dying. We know that they vomit blood, have high fever and die within six to seven hours.??

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The above symptoms are typical for H5N1. In 1918, dengue was a common misdiagnosis for pandemic flu victims.

[T. Modesto,PhD]

Re: AHMEDABAD - Disease panic

is anyone testing for h5N1 - I doubt it! Is WHO etc sending a team to investigate? Anyone know the protocol for that? If the faith based aid agencies could be involved with initial testing since they are often in those areas and have a better reputation for assisting those in need, would that be an option. Many faith based aid agencies have medical teams already embedded in the assistance program and have training in medical sampling.
Thoughts anyone?

[Corn]

Re: AHMEDABAD - Disease panic

Good idea but could they control these agencies information flow?

Would the faith based aid agencies adhere to censorship for medias purposes?

Probably why they wouldn't be used.

[Snowy Owl]

Re: AHMEDABAD - Disease panic

I have frequented and been near India for 25yrs. India is a world by itself, with numerous faith, customs, languages and dialects.

Some well organised Religious Community are active on this, but in India Destiny, Providence is accepted.

India is somehow deeply very traumatised by infectious diseases.

Just to give you an example, when a children is sick, it is a custom for the mothers to stand beside her or him 24hr a day until the children is fine, all the domestic world freeze sort of.

India is auto-regulated from bottom to top mostly, not from top to bottom like in our Western countries.

What is more important there is the cloaking of informations concerning contagious disease, the Fear is intense there on this particular matter.

To put it simply, India knows what is going on and relay the informations to the countries of its choices. But we cannot export our communication theory or models, India is diverse, an olsd civilisation and with a lot of tolerance, even towards death.

Their Achille heel is their trauma of contagiousness, it is institutionnalise.

The Casts system, known as Class system in the West has a lot of specs.

For instance the relations of the casts towards the untouchables, here the word bear its signification.

Once Babaji told me, I repeat over and over that; I am not supertitious, because it brings bad luck...food for tought

[T. Modesto,PhD]

Re: AHMEDABAD - Disease panic

I believe that many of the MAJOR charity / aid assisting / faith based agencies are highly reliable particularly with medical issues. The HOPE ships, UMCOR, Salvation Army to name a few have exceptional and outstanding reputations and often have been significant advocates for information sharing. These MAJOR medical assistance agencies can often be there to help with health care and clinic sponsored services with medically trained doctors and nurses specifically selected for their educational background and accepting / compassionate worldviews of the region(s) where we are currently talking about potential or current pandemic threats. Often these agencies have gone where others have feared to go or do the tasks that others refuse to attempt. Missionaries have a very long, noble history of service to those in need and are very creative in their service and very responsible and ethical in their reporting. Much of history has depended on these brave agents of service to independently and accurately to the best of their ability, circumstances and the era in which they lived and served provide necessary information in crisis situations. Will all individuals and groups be of the highest quality and altruistic in motive, of course not, that is impossible to achieve. Then again this can on occasion be said of the medical and scientific community as well. We do not live in a perfect world, only a human world filled with personal and collective frailties. Can we maximize available services to expedite testing and services, most definitely! Consolidated efforts by many groups can help to drastically reduce the fear, ignorance, reluctance and at times even avoidance found in many sectors of the community in question. In addition to reducing apprehension and mistrust in a community, the medical and faith based agencies together can more closely achieve the ultimate goal of more immediate and expansive testing in a possible pandemic potential outbreak arena.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
By having these faith based agencies as apart of the pandemic testing and treatment care team, it not only helps in obtaining medical testing in an indigenous area but also they have a mighty pen of influence in the religious community back home. Not only would the health agencies have a strong advocate and partner in obtaining necessary medical testing and reporting, the faith based teams' reports back to their supporters and constituents will also help to provide necessary and reliable information and necessary education to inspire and encourage enhanced awareness of the situation in current regions of the world affected. Their reports back home will also help in the education of dire need for preparation for all of the global family. Remember that ?back home? is a very big place called the world.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
Personally as an ordained pastor of 17 years, I can tell you the old adage is true "telephone, telegraph and tell a parishioner!" is the fastest way to get a message out especially about an impending emergency or need. It is amazing how fast and how comprehensive the communication for call to action can be especially when it concerns areas of compassion.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
Frankly we are not using our faith based / aid assisting services as productively and informatively as we could and should. I'm not talking about one particular denomination or faith expression but a collaborative effort. In times of major disasters, one thing becomes very clear quickly and that is that those who believe in humanitarian concerns can and do respond quickly and generously.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
If we are going to try to stem the tide of lack of preparedness to some extent and provide as much scientific public health information as possible, we will need to do two things and do them NOW if not yesterday or last week. The first action is to stop propriety mentality. Sequestering information and skills to selective few will cause a fierce reduction in the ability to address what might be a major catastrophe of historical proportions. Second, if we genuinely desire to address this issue and address it as successfully as possible, then we certainly need to think outside of our comfortable, inner circle clicks and routine ways of doing things. This is potentially too big and way too dangerous a situation to be small minded and limited in our approach to a mammoth situation. The issues of a pandemic grow exponentially but so can a vast number of diverse, creative minds and willing hearts serving the needs of the many. We must all become the hands and feet of compassionate care and informative awareness in addressing the needs of all who are broken and in need. <o:p></o:p>


TM

[Snowy Owl]

AHMEDABAD - Chickungunya

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="467"><tbody><tr valign="top"><td colspan="3">Now, schools gear up, take measures to tackle disease menace</td></tr> <tr valign="top"><td colspan="3" height="10">
</td></tr> <tr valign="top"><td colspan="3">Vivek Vijayapalan</td></tr> <tr valign="top"><td colspan="3" height="10">
</td></tr> <tr valign="top"> <td colspan="3"> Ahmedabad, September 1:



RISE in chickungunya and dengue cases in the city has made schools to take precautionary measures to prevent spread of these diseases among students.
Efforts are also being made to generate awareness among them about the symptoms.


??We have sweepers who clean the school premises regularly from 7 in the morning to 6 in the evening. To make students aware of these diseases, we have put up a write-up on these diseases on the notice board,?? says Radhika Iyer, principal of Udgam School for Children.


Schools like St. Xavier?s High School and Sahajanad Higher Secondary School say they ensure that the surroundings of their schools are cleaned regularly. ??We have installed a new instrument for water purification so that students do not fall prey to water-borne diseases.



Cleaning of the instrument as well as the water cooler used by children is done on regular basis,?? says N B Gadhvi, principal of Sahajanad High School. On the awareness part, he says, ??We usually discuss such things during assembly. And we have told our students about precautions to be taken to avoid diseases like dengue and chikungunya.??


Fernand Durai, principal St Xavier?s School says, ??First we clean places that have stagnant water to get rid of mosquitoes. All the three water tanks are also cleaned three to four times at regular intervals using chlorine powder.??

On creating awareness among students, he says the school focuses more on primary schoolchildren, as they are more vulnerable to getting infected. HB Kapadia High School and Delhi Public School also spray chemicals to prevent spread of diseases.



Ranjeeta Gill, principal of HB Kapadia School says, ??We regularly spray Malathion and other mosquito repellents to prevent the spread of these diseases in our school. We have also installed a pump near the basement of the school building to pump out standing water.?


http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=199460

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[HenryN]

Re: AHMEDABAD - Disease panic

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=465 align=center border=0><FORM name=secImage method=post><TBODY><TR><TD class=ld colSpan=2>Virus alert: Kids in danger zone</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2 height=20>Rajesh Kumar Singh
Lucknow, September 2</TD></TR></TBODY></FORM></TABLE>

Encephalitis claims 9 more lives in UP
DEADLY VIRUSES are making children their victims in a big way this year. One virus is crippling kids in West Uttar Pradesh while another is striking their brain in East Uttar Pradesh.
On Saturday itself viral encephalitis killed nine children and infected another 77 in East UP. On the other hand, four fresh polio cases were reported in West UP.
Two cases were in Ghaziabad and one each in Varanasi and Baghpat districts.
The polio virus has already crippled 232 children in 30 districts of West UP and viral encephalitis has killed 152 children in 12 districts of East UP.
In view of the onslaught of the two viruses the State Medical Health and Family Welfare Department is busy reviewing its strategy to check the spread of both the diseases in the districts spared from the malaise till now.
Director-General, Medical Health and Family Welfare, Dr B Nath said in view of the spurt in the polio cases the department had decided to organise polio immunisation drive and routine immunisation in alternate months.
?Polio immunisation programme is scheduled in September. We would organise routine immunisation drive in October. The second round of polio immunisation drive will be held in November and routine immunisation of the children in December?, she said.
Majority of the polio cases have been reported in Moradabad division (109), Bareilly (39), Meerut (36), Shaharanpur (22), Lucknow (8), Agra (7) and Kanpur (4). Two cases have been reported in Faizabad and one in Basti.
In 2005 just 29 cases were reported and the department had announced that polio would be eradicated by end of 2006.
Reacting to the increase in polio cases Family Welfare Minister Ahmed Hasan said his department had planned to launch intensive and effective immunisation drives all over the state.
Officers in the department accepted that they had not been able to reach all children during the last immunisation drive. ?Poor civic facilities added to our woes,? the officers rued. ?There is need to create awareness among the masses so that they keep their surrounding clean?, they said.
Speaking about the strategy of the Health Department on encephalitis front, Dr Nath said ?officers have been directed to increase surveillance in districts where the outbreak of the suspected viral encephalitis have been reported. The chief medical officers of all districts have been directed to inform the headquarters about fresh cases immediately?.
?Medical Health Department is planning to organise the second round of the immunisation drive in five districts including Basti, Bahraich, Shravasti, Balrampur and Rae Bareli to protect children from the killer Japanese Encephalitis (JE)?, she said.
Last year 68 lakh children were immunised in seven districts -- Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Maharajganj, Deoria, Sant Kabir Nagar, Siddharthnagar and Lakhimpur Kheri.
In 2005, Japanese Encepahlitis had infected 5,581 children and 1,593 died. According to the Medical Health Department, 498 children who survived are leading a crippled life as the virus has damaged their brain.
Though the Health Department has been able to neutralise JE virus, but a new virus -- Coxsackie -- is infecting children. Professor in Department of Microbiology, SGPGIMS, Lucknow, Dr TN Dhole said ?through immunisation we have been able to check JE but new viruses, active in the region, are now infecting vulnerable children.?

http://www.hindustantimes.com/online...2500000000.htm

[Sharpe]

Re: AHMEDABAD - Disease panic

Keep in mind that though polio is known to be in India, the actual diagnosis of a case of polio is only made when the child is already paralyzed and is almost always based on the effect rather than whether the poliovirus or antibody to it is ever isolated or even looked for. H5N1 is well known to cause paralysis in both mammals and birds, and certainly causes CNS disease in people too, but it has never been shown whether it also causes paralysis in people too, though it would not be any surprise if it did. For the time being, the nature of the viruses in this region remains unknown, but the fact that they are killing hundreds of children, and producing encephalitic symptoms should be cause for concern to anyone.

[HenryN]

Re: AHMEDABAD - Disease panic

Keep in mind that though polio is known to be in India, the actual diagnosis of a case of polio is only made when the child is already paralyzed and is almost always based on the effect rather than whether the poliovirus or antibody to it is ever isolated or even looked for. H5N1 is well known to cause paralysis in both mammals and birds, and certainly causes CNS disease in people too, but it has never been shown whether it also causes paralysis in people too, though it would not be any surprise if it did. For the time being, the nature of the viruses in this region remains unknown, but the fact that they are killing hundreds of children, and producing encephalitic symptoms should be cause for concern to anyone.

H5N1 causes hind leg paralysis in experimental ferrets.

[Snowy Owl]

Re: AHMEDABAD - Disease panic

Ahmedabad> News

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="467"><tbody><tr valign="top"><td colspan="3">Chikungunya to be under control soon, says civic chief</td></tr> <tr valign="top"><td colspan="3" height="10">
</td></tr> <tr valign="top"><td colspan="3">Express News Service</td></tr> <tr valign="top"><td colspan="3" height="10">
</td></tr> <tr valign="top"> <td colspan="3"> Ahmedabad, September 2:



Going by larval indices, a 50 per cent decline in chikungunya cases is expected in seven days after the first round of household survey to destroy mosquito breeding sites ends on Monday. The AMC will survey a million houses in the first round, stated Municipal Commissioner I P Gautam on Saturday.


He said that the second round of survey would be a more intense and focussed with only around 1.5 lakh households being surveyed. According to him, Danilimda, Odhav, Jamalpur and Rakhial wards, where larvae presence was found in very high number on August 24 and 26, showed a marked fall in the second round of August 31. However, areas like Kalupur, Old Vadaj, Kubernagar, Sardarnagar and Raikhad continued to remain problematic.


The Breteau Index (BI), which shows the number of containers found positive for mosquito in every 100 households, is the best of indices. If BI is more than 50 than it shows high risk of transmission of virus while if it is less than five, it means a low risk of transmission. Gautam said the AMC was trying to ensure BI of less than 10 in affected areas.


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[Snowy Owl]

Re: AHMEDABAD

Chikungunya: ayurvedic docs distribute kadha
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=200503

Vadodara, September 8: A TEAM of doctors from the Government Ayurvedic College, Panigate distributed an ayurvedic decoction which reportedly provides immunisation from chikunguniya and other post-flood diseases, near the Central Library, Mandvi, on Friday.


??The decoction, also known as kadha and quath, helps in relaxing the synovial fluid which solidifies near the joints when a person suffers from chikunguniya,?? informed Dr B H Joshi, head of the medicine department of the Government Ayurvedic College.


??In the Ayurvedic context, there are tridosh?pitta, cough and vayu?and the decoction liquid helps in purifying the the vayu and circulatory system, thereby immunising the person from other viruses,?? he further said.


The team has been distributing the ayurvedic decoction earlier in the week as well.


??We aim at immunising people against chikunguniya and post-monsoon diseases. The decoction liquid will not only immunise the local public but also strengthen the immunity of the people suffering with suspected chikunguniya and viral fever. We have covered 2,945 people near Central Library and more than 5,000 people have already been given the kadha near Ranchodji Mandir and near Ayurvedic Hospital of Panigate,?? informed Dr Neha Modh, medical officer, Government Ayurvedic College and hospital.


??The decoction comprises of dashnulkruth, kirutikta, guduchi, nagarmoth, nirgundipan and tulsipan,?? she added.


??There is a fear psychosis about suspected chikunguniya in the area around Yakutpura, Fatehpura, Hathikhana and Mandvi, as the houses are close by and the vector?aedis epypti?flies within 20 metres. There is a lot of freshwater-logging in these areas and this may lead to spread of viral fevers,?? said Dr Modh.

[Snowy Owl]

Re: AHMEDABAD

Ahmedabad, September 13:
http://cities.expressindia.com/fulls...?newsid=201217

Chief Minister Modi?s got mail. In an open letter, former chairman of AMC?s Health Committee has quite a few posers and pointers for Modi on the chikungunya front.


One, what is the State Government?s master plan, if any, on the mosquito menace which has affected 1.5 million people in State.



Two, a demand that kin of people who have died after contracting the virus be given Rs 2 lakh as compensation and patients be given Rs 2,000 each.


And finally, provide AMC with the financial means to make the State chikungunya-free.


??You vowed in Mumbai recently that you would have terrorists done in one by one...but people are wondering: ?How? This government can?t even kill mosquitoes!??? states Narendra Barhmbhatt, former chairman of AMC health committee.


In Ahmedabad alone, the viral fever has caused losses to the tune of Rs 100 crore while nearly 10 million people have suffered hardships due to the epidemics and the natural calamities that recently hit the State, he says.

In a separate letter to Municipal Commissioner I P Gautam, Brahmbhatt says that victims of suspected chikungunya spend around Rs 1,000 on treatment on an average, i.e., people are shelling out Rs 100 crore from their pockets ??and I have proof.??

??Issues of staff crunch and equipment shortage at the AMC Health Department had been brought to my attention when I was its chairman (2000-03). Then AMC Commissioner Kailashnathan had even started looking into them. But his predecessors acted in such a way that officials like P A Dik**** and M R Chhablani were compelled to resign,?? he alleges.

He says that against the requirement of 2,067 staff, there are only 209 staffers in the AMC Health Department.

Brahmbhatt also urges the Commissioner to seek assistance of Rs 50 crore from the State Government so that people do not suffer from diseases in the forthcoming festival days.

[emmysue]

Re: AHMEDABAD (mystery virus)

<arttitle>Mystery virus rattles Ahmedabad</arttitle>
[ 15 Sep, 2006 0304hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1992817.cms

AHMEDABAD: A team from National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, New Delhi, headed by Dr Pradeep Shrivastav arrived in Ahmedabad on Wednesday to review the increasing number of chikun gunia-like mysterious viral fever cases being reported in city.

Meanwhile, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) officials sent samples of 11 patients suffering from the unidentified viral fever to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune for testing.

The Times Of India, on Tuesday, reported an alarming rise in the number of patients becoming critical due to a mysterious chikun gunia-like viral fever.

This fever has sent alarm bells ringing in the medical fraternity as it rapidly leads to nervous system complications, mostly fatal, especially in the elderly people. Afflicted with this particular virus, the patients first complained of chikun gunia-like symptoms namely fever, muscle and joint pain but within days, developed rashes, low platelets, kidney complications, suffered from nervous system complications and finally had to be put on ventilator.

Dr Shrivastav is reported to have reviewed the grim situation of viral diseases wreaking havoc in the city. "The best armament to deal with the onslaught of the virus, especially the unidentified virus, is to prevent mosquito breeding," he suggested.

The AMC has sent 11 samples of patients from three hospitals namely Sterling Hospital (4), Sardar Patel Hospital (4) and Sushrusha Hospital (3)...

Even as the health machinery geared up to meet the new challenge, the increasing viral load in the state that is already reeling under the massive outbreak of chikun gunia, doctors reported more cases of people, especially old, with this mystery virus.

Naranpura resident Parmandandbhai, 67, was reported to be critical in Karnavati Hospital.

He initially complained of fever, joint pain but then was critical after he became unconscious due to complication in the nervous system.

Another aged patient Kishore from Gomtipur was admitted in the ICU-3 of the Jivraj Mehta Hospital with similar neurological complications from a viral fever that began with fever and joint pain.

"This viral fever afflicting serious and rapid damage on the central nervous system especially of the old has us worried. All that we are doing is give symptomatic treatment as we are not aware of how the disease progresses or the virus we are dealing with", said neurologist Dr Rupinder Bhatia.