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Source: http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/tests-show-chandipura-virus-hit-other-districts-too/676235/
Tests show Chandipura virus hit other districts too
Shubhlakshmi Shukla
Posted: Sep 02, 2010 at 0447 hrs IST
Ahmedabad The Chandipura virus, which has claimed 17 lives in the state this year, has now spread to Sabarkantha and rural Ahmedabad, state Health Department officials have said. Until recently, Chandipura virus cases were reported only from central Gujarat.
Gujarat is one of the three states in the country, besides Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, where confirmed cases of Chandipura have been reported in the past.
But health officials here express helplessness to check the spread of the virus saying ?there is no policy per se? to control the situation.
?The only solution is spraying insecticides,? said an official.
On the measures taken to check its spread, state
Health Minister Jaynarayan Vyas said: ?The Health Department is spraying insecticides wherever the outbreak has been reported. It is also trying to educate ASHA workers about the infection.?
Incidentally, a few outbreaks were reported in the past.
In 2003, three cases were reported from Dahod district, according to Health Department officials.
The next year, 28 cases were reported from Chhota Udaipur in Vadodara, wherein 20 patients died, while last year, 19 people died of the infection in Panchmahals.
Kheda health officials said that this year, four confirmed cases have been reported from the rural areas of the district and seven from Panchmahals district.
Officials added that samples tested from Sabarkantha and Dholka taluka in Ahmedabad have confirmed the presence of the virus in these areas.
A C Mishra, Director of National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, said: ?Chandipura is a disease that is generally found among the poor. It spreads through sandflies found in the cracks under the thatch of hutments.?
He added: ?There is a possibility that the virus exists in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh as well. But health departments in these states have not reported to us about the disease as yet.?
History of Chandipura
According to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), the virus has its origins in Chandipura village of Nagpur district in Maharashtra.
It was first identified in 1965 in two patients from Chandipura and has been associated with a number of encephalitic outbreaks in central India.
The most recent one occurred in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra in June-August 2003, with 329 children affected and 183 deaths reported.
More cases and deaths were reported in Gujarat in 2004. The virus probably spreads through bites of sandflies. Its symptoms include fever and acute encephalitis (inflammation of the brain).
Tests show Chandipura virus hit other districts too
Shubhlakshmi Shukla
Posted: Sep 02, 2010 at 0447 hrs IST
Ahmedabad The Chandipura virus, which has claimed 17 lives in the state this year, has now spread to Sabarkantha and rural Ahmedabad, state Health Department officials have said. Until recently, Chandipura virus cases were reported only from central Gujarat.
Gujarat is one of the three states in the country, besides Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, where confirmed cases of Chandipura have been reported in the past.
But health officials here express helplessness to check the spread of the virus saying ?there is no policy per se? to control the situation.
?The only solution is spraying insecticides,? said an official.
On the measures taken to check its spread, state
Health Minister Jaynarayan Vyas said: ?The Health Department is spraying insecticides wherever the outbreak has been reported. It is also trying to educate ASHA workers about the infection.?
Incidentally, a few outbreaks were reported in the past.
In 2003, three cases were reported from Dahod district, according to Health Department officials.
The next year, 28 cases were reported from Chhota Udaipur in Vadodara, wherein 20 patients died, while last year, 19 people died of the infection in Panchmahals.
Kheda health officials said that this year, four confirmed cases have been reported from the rural areas of the district and seven from Panchmahals district.
Officials added that samples tested from Sabarkantha and Dholka taluka in Ahmedabad have confirmed the presence of the virus in these areas.
A C Mishra, Director of National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, said: ?Chandipura is a disease that is generally found among the poor. It spreads through sandflies found in the cracks under the thatch of hutments.?
He added: ?There is a possibility that the virus exists in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh as well. But health departments in these states have not reported to us about the disease as yet.?
History of Chandipura
According to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), the virus has its origins in Chandipura village of Nagpur district in Maharashtra.
It was first identified in 1965 in two patients from Chandipura and has been associated with a number of encephalitic outbreaks in central India.
The most recent one occurred in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra in June-August 2003, with 329 children affected and 183 deaths reported.
More cases and deaths were reported in Gujarat in 2004. The virus probably spreads through bites of sandflies. Its symptoms include fever and acute encephalitis (inflammation of the brain).