Dengue epidemic threatens India's capital

[AlaskaDenise]

http://www.news-medical.net/?id=20348


<TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=article-author>Disease/Infection News</TD></TR><TR><TD class=article-date>Published: Monday, 2-Oct-2006 </TD></TR><TR><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=15></TD><TD>http://www.news-medical.net/print_article.asp?id=20348</TD><TD> </TD><TD width=18></TD><TD>http://www.news-medical.net/email_article.asp?id=20348
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="BACKGROUND: url(aspvirtualnews/template_images/smalldot.gif)" height=25> </TD></TR><TR><TD>An outbreak of Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever (DHF) in Delhi, India has authorities concerned that they may be seeing the start of an epidemic.

In total 448 cases have been reported to date in the national capital and 121 of those were last week; eleven of those have died along with two more in Uttar Pradesh where 40 cases of suspected dengue have been reported in the past month.

Health authorities have intensified efforts to contain the outbreak and 2,400 additional personnel are being deployed in fumigation and fogging activities to kill the dengue carrying mosquitoes.

Authorities are likely to declare an epidemic shortly and are urging officials to collect information on dengue patients across the state and to take prompt action to control the situation.

Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne infection which has in recent years become a major international public health concern.

The disease is now endemic in more than 100 countries in Africa, the Americas, the Eastern Mediterranean, South-east Asia and the Western Pacific.

South-east Asia and the Western Pacific are most seriously affected.
Prior to 1970 only nine countries had experienced DHF epidemics, a number that had increased more than four-fold by 1995.

Dengue fever is found in tropical and sub-tropical regions around the world, predominantly in urban and semi-urban areas.

A potentially lethal complication is Dengue haemorrhagic fever, and in some Asian countries is the leading cause of hospitalisation and death among children.

There are four distinct, but closely related, viruses that cause dengue and though recovery from infection by one provides lifelong immunity against that serotype it only gives partial and transient protection against subsequent infection by the other three.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) there is good evidence that sequential infection increases the risk of more serious disease resulting in DHF.

The WHO says some 2,5 billion people, two fifths of the world's population, are now at risk from dengue and estimates that there may be 50 million cases of dengue infection worldwide every year.
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[AlaskaDenise]

Re: Dengue epidemic threatens India's capital

<TABLE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-LEFT: 5px" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="95%" align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=PrintArticalTitle>Dengue likely to be declared an epidemic</TD></TR><TR><TD align=left><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=dates height=27>Publish Date: Tuesday,3 October, 2006, at 10:38 AM Doha Time</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD>

</TD></TR><TR><TD class=articalBody id=artical>NEW DELHI: The New Delhi government is expected to declare today that dengue fever has reached epidemic proportions in the Indian capital where infection is rife, even in the nation?s top hospital.

Eleven people have died from the mosquito-borne virus in the past fortnight and 450 have come down with the disease this year, compared to 217 by the same time in 2005, according to the municipal authorities.

Over 120 people were infected with "brain fever" in New Delhi in the last week, The Hindustan Times paper said.

"If the spread of the outbreak is not contained by Tuesday we will declare it an epidemic," city Health Minister Yoganand Shastri said.
If an epidemic is declared more stringent measures will be put in place, including jail or fines for anyone breaching public health directives.

Over 15 hospitals have been issued notice for not doing enough to prevent the breeding of mosquitoes on their campuses.

"The notice asks the hospital authorities to take due note of the mosquito breeding grounds at their campuses and step up surveillance to curb it," said a municipal official. The fountains at hospitals were among the favourite breeding places for mosquitoes, he said.

However, the official declined to name the hospitals.

A spokesman for Apollo Hospital, admitted getting the notice.

"Yes, we have received a notice and have fully complied with the civic body?s directives."

As many as 45 people, including 20 medical staff, caught the disease at the country?s premier public hospital, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, The Times of India said.

"Currently we have 45 patients of dengue, of which 20 are from the AIIMS campus, including resident doctors, students and support staff," medical superintendent D K Sharma said.

"We have intensified our surveillance and are doing regular fogging of potential breeding areas. A cleanliness drive is also underway on the campus," Sharma added.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has launched a fumigation drive to stamp out mosquitoes and fined eight hospitals for unsanitary conditions conducive to mosquito breeding.

The virus is transmitted to humans through bites of female Aedes mosquitoes and causes a severe, flu-like illness and internal bleeding, including brain haemorrhage.

In Asia, the mosquito mainly breeds in stagnant water.

"We have also started random checks of homes, offices and places where there could be stagnant water," municipal health official N K Yadav said.

"Since October and November are (the) most dangerous months for breeding of mosquitoes we have appealed to citizens to be on (the) alert."

Although yesterday was a public holiday to mark Mahatma Gandhi?s birth anniversary, municipal employees were asked to continue working on the sanitation drive.

Mosquito-borne viruses such as malaria and encephalitis claim hundreds of lives in India each year
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Dengue deaths are also being reported in other parts of the country with three people dying over the weekend in Uttar Pradesh, India?s largest state, where an outbreak of Japanese encephalitis claimed 1,400 lives last year.

A dengue outbreak in Delhi claimed more than 400 lives in 1996 when 10,000 people contracted the virus.

There is no specific treatment or vaccine against the disease.

? Agencies
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[Thornton]

Re: Dengue epidemic threatens India's capital

Dengue not an epidemic: Delhi govt
http://www.ndtv.com/template/templa...lhi+govt&id=20404&callid=0&category=National#
NDTV Correspondent

Tuesday, October 3, 2006 (New Delhi):
The government of Delhi has decided that dengue outbreak will not be declared an epidemic as the disease claimed 14 lives.

Reports say close to 1000 people have reported symptoms of dengue.

Chief Minister Shiela Dixit on Tuesday held an emergency meeting of her Cabinet to discuss the outbreak.

"We are not declaring the dengue outbreak an epidemic. We have asked the ministers to supervise and monitor cleanliness drive in their respective areas," said Yoganand Shastri, Delhi Health Minister.

"We will also launch a drive to provide blood platelets".

There are reports of 12 cases of dengue in Haryana and seven in Punjab.

In Rajasthan 12 people are believed to have died from dengue related illness. Reports also spoke of the disease in Noida, outside Delhi and in Kashmir and Maharashtra.

AIIMS ill-equipped

Separately, an NDTV undercover reporter who toured the special dengue ward at AIIMS reveals the hospital is not equipped to deal with a steady stream of patients.

At AIIMS, dengue patients were found applying saline drips to other patients belying government claims that extra doctors were deployed to deal with the situation.

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences or AIIMS is considered India's top medical facility.

Pictures shot by hidden camera at the hospital show patients accommodated in corridors and tents after the ward ran short of beds in the wake of dengue outbreak.

The NDTV team at the hospital reports, "not a doctor or nurse could be seen at the ward and patients complained no one was willing to listen to them".

A patient suspected to be ill with the disease said, he was refused admission to AIIMS - the hospital saying it cannot take any more patients.

Notices issued

On Monday, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi issued notices to a dozen hospitals in the capital for allowing mosquitoes breed on their premises.

The Delhi health department has deployed an additional 2,400 officials to contain the outbreak.

It also plans to launch an intensive mass awareness drive through advertisements in newspapers about the disease.

They also want to take necessary preventive measures such as keeping coolers clean and not accumulating water in and around residential and office complexes.