India: Fever in K.N. Pura: Girl Dies, Several Affected

[hawkeye]

India: FEVER IN K.N. PURA: GIRL DIES, SEVERAL AFFECTED

Mysore, June 29 (DMR& NMG)- A child succumbed to an unidentified viral fever and several persons are suffering at K.N. Pura layout in city.

Kavya (4), daughter of Paramesh and Sujatha, was said to have contracted fever on Tuesday and died yesterday without responding to treatment at a nearby clinic. Kavya's grandmother Kumari and brother Manu, 7, are said to be affected by the fever.

It is learnt that at least one person in every house in this layout is suffering from fever. It is said that the residents live in unhygienic conditions, with open drainages which are breeding mosquitoes. Rajamma, Tejkumar, Sowmya, Mala, Abhilash, Gulabi, Ratna, Saalat and Sirin Taj of the area belonging to two families are suffering from fever. Most of the affected are children.

The area behind Srikanteshwara College in Udayagiri has become a haven for pigs and mosquitoes. People have constructed houses on the sides of an open drainage between Rajivnagar and Kyathamaranahalli.

The irate residents are blaming the civic authorities, who allegedly turned a deaf ear to their pleas to clean up the area and cover the drainages.

The medical team of Shanthinagar Primary Health Centre headed by Dr. Thibbegowda, Taluk Health Officer H.K. Prasad, staff Manjula and Rukmini rushed to K.N. Pura and provided treatment to the affected.

Dr. Thibbegowda said that the fever might be the result of contaminated water and mosquitobites but it was not chikungunya.

 

[mordan]

Re: India: Fever in K.N. Pura: Girl Dies, Several Affected

There are a number of Paramyxoviridae

Here is a review

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol7no3_supp/mackenzie.htm

 

[Jeremy]

Re: Fever In K.n. Pura: Girl Dies, Several Affected

Re: Fever In K.n. Pura: Girl Dies, Several Affected

This is a bit unnerving.

The 4 year old girl died rather quickly from showing symptoms of a viral fever, 2 days to be exact.

The story goes on to say that more are infected within the family and that "at least one person in every house in the layout is suffering from fever".

They say it is not chikungunya, which if it were true would be even more worrisome as it could be an influenza virus that is affecting these people.

With India it is anyones guess, but this area should be watched for more developments over the coming days and weeks.

 

[Shannon Bennett]

Re: India: Fever in K.N. Pura: Girl Dies, Several Affected

Morden, after reading your import, I came away with the disturbing feeling that there are a lot of emerging viruses and none of them seem to be good news for us. The following excerpt from your import seems to be another likely disease. Although I am not sure how contagious the disease is in humans.
I am with Jeremy again on this outbreak-it should be watched closely. Anything that shows symptoms followed by death in 48 hours is suspect. However, I am not suggesting this is H5N1 only that it could be the virus.

[snip]
Nipah Virus

A major outbreak of disease in pigs and humans in the Malay Peninsula from September 1998 to April 1999 resulted in 265 infected persons, 105 of whom died (49), and the eventual destruction of about 1.1 million pigs. The disease in pigs was highly contagious and symptoms included acute fever, respiratory problems, and neurologic signs in infected pigs of all ages. The predominant clinical syndrome in humans was encephalitic rather than respiratory, with clinical signs including fever, headache, myalgia, drowsiness, and disorientation sometimes proceeding to a coma within 48 hours (50,51). Most infected persons had a history of direct contact with live pigs, and most were pig farmers. Epidemiologic evidence suggested that the disease had been spread primarily by pigs that were transported between farms or to other regions. The primary mode of transmission on pig farms was believed to be through the respiratory route, and this was subsequently confirmed with experiments (52). Investigations have revealed that the virus has caused disease in pigs in Peninsular Malaysia since late 1996. Eleven cases of encephalitis and pneumonia resulting from Nipah virus infection also occurred during the outbreak in Malaysia; one abattoir worker who worked on pigs imported from Malaysia died in Singapore (53).
Preliminary research on the new virus, subsequently named Nipah virus, revealed that it had ultrastructural, antigenic, serologic, and molecular characteristics similar to Hendra virus (49). Molecular studies confirmed that Nipah virus was closely related to Hendra virus, with specific genes sharing 70% to 88% nucleotide homologies and 67% to 92% amino acid homologies, and with identical intergenic regions and nearly identical gene start-and-stop sequences (54). Thus, these two viruses are members of a new proposed genus within the family Paramyxoviridae (48).
Surveillance of wildlife species for evidence of the origin of Nipah virus was an integral part of the outbreak investigation (55). Knowing the similarities between Nipah virus and Hendra virus, attention was focused on surveillance of bats. In common with most countries in Southeast Asia, Peninsular Malaysia has a great diversity of bat species: at least 13 species of fruit bat (suborder Megachiroptera), including two flying fox species, and at least 60 species of insectivorous bats (suborder Microchiroptera) (56).
Antibodies that neutralize Nipah virus were found in 21 bats from five species (four species of fruit bat, including two flying fox species and one insectivorous species) (J. M. Yob, H.E. Field, unpub. data). Cross-neutralization of Nipah antigen by antibodies to Hendra virus was excluded as the cause of reactivity. Attempts to detect the virus in sera using both culture and amplification of RNA in reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction were unsuccessful. However, Nipah virus has recently been isolated from the urine of flying foxes (K.B. Chua, S.K. Lam, unpub. data).
[snip]