<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=467 border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD colSpan=3>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=191474[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Chikungunya, say residents; no, say docs[/FONT]
</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>
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Ahmedabad, July 5:[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Recent reports about Chikungunya reaching endemic proportions in some parts of the country seem not to worry local doctors. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Not even the recent claims of over 150 cases of the virally transmitted disease reported from the city?s Krishnanagar-Naroda area in the past few days.
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Says Dr Himanshu Shah, who practices in the area, that he has had about 20 cases of high fever in the last ten days. ??High fever is often accompanied by vomiting. So, arthritic pains that affect multiple joints is a more important symptom,?? he says but is quick to add, ??Now people have become more aware of the names of diseases. So, if they experience few symptoms, they tend to assume they have a particular disease. What they do not understand is that these symptoms are common to most viral infections.??
The Chikungunya alphavirus is carried by aedis aegypti, a kind of mosquito that breeds in stagnant, clean water. Generally considered non-fatal, the most visible symptoms of this disease are high grade fever, swollen and painful joints and vomiting.
Area residents, however, are convinced otherwise. Kanta Prajapati estimates ??at least 200 cases?? and firmly believes that the doctors are hiding something. ??We know what we have been going through. None of their medication works,?? she says. Other residents of the area share her views. In some households, like those of Balram Parmar and Raju Barot in Shiv Apartment complex in Krishnanagar, the entire family has been afflicted with similar symptoms.
Barot?s 15-year-old son Bhavik is in bed with fever while the others in his family have recovered from their illness. His mother Neeta says that she has started giving him the medication the Ahmedabad Municpal Corporation (AMC) distributed on Wednesday. The Rs 1,000 that they spent on medication is more than they could afford in the wages her husband earns as an autorickshaw driver.
??I had fever for 2-3 weeks. I could not bend my kness or move my shoulders but now I am slightly better,?? says 67-year-old Subhadraben Trivedi, adding, ??The doctors do not tell us what is wrong. Now, at least the corporation has begun doing something about it.??
The AMC has launched a blood test drive in addition to fumigating the area to get rid of mosquitoes over the past two days. They have also begun distributing chlorine tablets to protect stored drinking water.
Malaria Sub-Inspector for the North Zone, Ramesh Parmar says: ??We collected blood from about 100 people, who had been complaining of fever, on Tuesday. The number came down to 39 on Wednesday. I don?t think that any of these is actually Chikungunya infection but conclusive results will be ready only by next week.?? According to him, it?s the media reports that has created unneccessary panic among residents.
Dr M M Prabhakar, Superintendant, Civil Hospital, informs that antibiotics and analgesics are the only course of action, since only symptomatic treatment is possible in case of any viral infection, which usually clears up within a week.
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Chikungunya, say residents; no, say docs[/FONT]
</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>
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Ahmedabad, July 5:[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Recent reports about Chikungunya reaching endemic proportions in some parts of the country seem not to worry local doctors. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Not even the recent claims of over 150 cases of the virally transmitted disease reported from the city?s Krishnanagar-Naroda area in the past few days.
[/FONT]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Says Dr Himanshu Shah, who practices in the area, that he has had about 20 cases of high fever in the last ten days. ??High fever is often accompanied by vomiting. So, arthritic pains that affect multiple joints is a more important symptom,?? he says but is quick to add, ??Now people have become more aware of the names of diseases. So, if they experience few symptoms, they tend to assume they have a particular disease. What they do not understand is that these symptoms are common to most viral infections.??
The Chikungunya alphavirus is carried by aedis aegypti, a kind of mosquito that breeds in stagnant, clean water. Generally considered non-fatal, the most visible symptoms of this disease are high grade fever, swollen and painful joints and vomiting.
Area residents, however, are convinced otherwise. Kanta Prajapati estimates ??at least 200 cases?? and firmly believes that the doctors are hiding something. ??We know what we have been going through. None of their medication works,?? she says. Other residents of the area share her views. In some households, like those of Balram Parmar and Raju Barot in Shiv Apartment complex in Krishnanagar, the entire family has been afflicted with similar symptoms.
Barot?s 15-year-old son Bhavik is in bed with fever while the others in his family have recovered from their illness. His mother Neeta says that she has started giving him the medication the Ahmedabad Municpal Corporation (AMC) distributed on Wednesday. The Rs 1,000 that they spent on medication is more than they could afford in the wages her husband earns as an autorickshaw driver.
??I had fever for 2-3 weeks. I could not bend my kness or move my shoulders but now I am slightly better,?? says 67-year-old Subhadraben Trivedi, adding, ??The doctors do not tell us what is wrong. Now, at least the corporation has begun doing something about it.??
The AMC has launched a blood test drive in addition to fumigating the area to get rid of mosquitoes over the past two days. They have also begun distributing chlorine tablets to protect stored drinking water.
Malaria Sub-Inspector for the North Zone, Ramesh Parmar says: ??We collected blood from about 100 people, who had been complaining of fever, on Tuesday. The number came down to 39 on Wednesday. I don?t think that any of these is actually Chikungunya infection but conclusive results will be ready only by next week.?? According to him, it?s the media reports that has created unneccessary panic among residents.
Dr M M Prabhakar, Superintendant, Civil Hospital, informs that antibiotics and analgesics are the only course of action, since only symptomatic treatment is possible in case of any viral infection, which usually clears up within a week.