http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1886190.cms
BANGALORE: The chikungunya sting continues to leave Bangalore sore. Even though there are no records on the total number of cases, the long queues of patients suffering from fever and body ache indicate that the aedes aegypti mosquito has not left.
According to the directorate of health and family welfare there has been an outbreak in the city and healthcare experts are on red alert.
"We have been doing our best to eradicate mosquitoes at source. We have also been co-ordinating with the BMP," says a senior official. Most patients are treated with anti-inflammatory and analgesics.
"Some who have secondary infection are treated with antibiotics. This disease is not fatal nor is it contagious. But we don't have any specific drug to treat infected persons. We only treat them for symptoms of pain and fever. With days, the infection goes down automatically," said Dr M G Prasad, director, health and family welfare.
The disease, he said, continues to spread because of the long storage of drinking water by residents.
"We are told that the supply of water is only once every two days and many residents prefer to store water in huge containers. The water is stored for weeks together. This can become a fine breeding ground for mosquitoes. The situation is similar in the districts," he added.
Virologists say the disease is caused by the alphavirus and spreads through aedes aegypti mosquito that causes the bonebreaking dengue fever.
They add that it has co-existed with dengue for several years but is under diagnosed for two reasons ? unlike dengue, it is not fatal but self-limiting and secondly, the diagnosis is not easy even through blood tests.
"It took two months for a Pune institute to confirm the disease when it was first detected in Gulburga. Apparently, mapping this strain isn't easy and at times it's too vague," a virologist said.
BANGALORE: The chikungunya sting continues to leave Bangalore sore. Even though there are no records on the total number of cases, the long queues of patients suffering from fever and body ache indicate that the aedes aegypti mosquito has not left.
According to the directorate of health and family welfare there has been an outbreak in the city and healthcare experts are on red alert.
"We have been doing our best to eradicate mosquitoes at source. We have also been co-ordinating with the BMP," says a senior official. Most patients are treated with anti-inflammatory and analgesics.
"Some who have secondary infection are treated with antibiotics. This disease is not fatal nor is it contagious. But we don't have any specific drug to treat infected persons. We only treat them for symptoms of pain and fever. With days, the infection goes down automatically," said Dr M G Prasad, director, health and family welfare.
The disease, he said, continues to spread because of the long storage of drinking water by residents.
"We are told that the supply of water is only once every two days and many residents prefer to store water in huge containers. The water is stored for weeks together. This can become a fine breeding ground for mosquitoes. The situation is similar in the districts," he added.
Virologists say the disease is caused by the alphavirus and spreads through aedes aegypti mosquito that causes the bonebreaking dengue fever.
They add that it has co-existed with dengue for several years but is under diagnosed for two reasons ? unlike dengue, it is not fatal but self-limiting and secondly, the diagnosis is not easy even through blood tests.
"It took two months for a Pune institute to confirm the disease when it was first detected in Gulburga. Apparently, mapping this strain isn't easy and at times it's too vague," a virologist said.
