India: Suspected outbreak of chikungunya in Kerala

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/health/suspected-outbreak-of-chikungunya-in-kerala_10046531.html

Suspected outbreak of chikungunya in Kerala
May 8th, 2008 - 8:36 pm ICT by admin
Kasargod (Kerala), May 8 (IANS) A suspected outbreak of chikungunya was reported from Kasargod district in Kerala Thursday. The cases were reported from Panathadi village, about 70 km from Kasargod district headquarters. The village borders Karnataka.

A health official at the district medical office said that about 130 suspected cases of chikungunya were reported from the village.

?The patients complained of fever and joint pain. We have sent some blood samples to the virology institute at Alleppey (in Kerala),? he said. The health department is carrying out intensive mosquito eradication work in the affected area.

Last year, some of the southern districts in Kerala witnessed an outbreak of chikungunya.

The disease is transmitted by the bite of aedes mosquitoes.

 

[Shiloh]

Re: India: Suspected outbreak of chikungunya in Kerala

Source: http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal...d-district-in-the-grip-of-fever_10062542.html
Kerala?s Kasargod district in the grip of fever
June 20th, 2008 - 9:54 pm ICT by IANS -

Kasargod (Kerala), June 20 (IANS) Kerala?s northern district of Kasargod is in the grip of a viral fever, which has symptoms similar to chikungunya, and as many as 33,254 cases have been reported in the last 50 days. Of these, 6,147 are suspected to be chikungunya, according to the office of the district medical officer.

On Thursday, 1,629 people afflicted with fever visited various hospitals in the district, which has a population of around 1.2 million.

?The outbreak here was first reported in areas bordering Karnataka. Now the fever has affected 75 percent of the district - around 33 village panchayats,? said C.P. Sreedharan, the district medical officer.

Last year, a severe outbreak of the disease was reported from state?s southern districts of Kottayam, Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha. Chikungunya is transmitted through the bite of infected mosquitoes, usually of the genus Aedes.

Health authorities said they are taking steps to control the breeding of mosquitoes.

?We have been carrying out disease source reduction activities to contain the fever. But we feel that our work failed to have the desired effect as the fever continued to spread,? said Sreedharan.

The outbreak is more serious in areas in Karnataka close to the Kerala border, health officials said, adding that they were coordinating their activities with officials in Karnataka to contain the disease.

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: India: Suspected outbreak of chikungunya in Kerala

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India: Chikungunya outbreak suspected
<hr style="color: rgb(209, 209, 225);" size="1"> <!-- / icon and title --> <!-- message --> Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/B...ow/3154771.cms

Chikungunya outbreak suspected
23 Jun 2008, 0228 hrs IST,TNN
BANGALORE: Even as gastroenteritis is doing the rounds in a few city slums, chikungunya seems to have reared its head. Though there have been symptomatic cases since June 14, it is yet to be confirmed by the health department, which is awaiting the sample test report.

Dr Gangal Lakshmi, medical superintendent, Srirampura BBMP Referral Hospital, said more than 86 cases have been treated at the hospital. On Sunday, 17 patients complaining of high fever and joint pain were treated.

BBMP chief health officer Dr Gayathri said: "One hundred patients with symptoms of chikungunya have been treated in several city hospitals, mainly in Malleswaram, Srirampura, Rajajinagar and Bhashyamnagar. The samples are yet to be confirmed by the Public Health Institute."

Srirampura resident Parimala was shifted to KC General Hospital with high temperature. Delay in confirmation of the samples by PHI has delayed treatment. The reports, which should have been released in 24 hours, are late by over two days.

(toiblr.reporter@timesgroup.com)

 

[Shiloh]

Re: India: Suspected outbreak of chikungunya in Kerala

Source: http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Di...nth=July2008&file=World_News2008070913654.xml

Kerala?s fatal scourge is rat fever, not chikungunya
Web posted at: 7/9/2008 1:36:54
Source ::: The Peninsula / By John Mary

Thiruvananthapuram ? Rat fever, not chikungunya, has been the killer fever in Kerala. Health Minister P K Sreemathy yesterday clarified in the Assembly that as opposed to popular belief, there has not been even one fatal case of chikungunya in the State since 2006. That?s the year when the new Left Government assumed office.

But 288 people died of rat fever (leptospirosis) and 18 of dengue in the State since 2006. The number of confirmed chikungunya cases last year was 909. But in 2006, there were some 70,704 suspected cases of chikungunya. Last year, it was 24,052.

Fever continues to affect the population in a big way. Some 3.5 million people were fever-stricken last year and this year so far the number has been over 900,000.

The State is facing a shortage of diphtheria vaccine and this when deaths are being reported on account of the debilitating childhood disease, mainly in Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur and Malappuram districts. The fight against the disease has been hampered by the absence of an indigenous vaccine manufacturing facility.

Interestingly, the Health Minister?s clarification sets at rest the controversy whether chikungunya has been fatal. After the first outbreak in 2006, Sreemathy at first said ?No? and changed to ?Yes? when Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan said it was a killer virus. Finally, she ended up parroting the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention opinion, ?chikungunya is generally non-fatal?.

Federal Health Minister Anbumani Ramdoss had also spent much time during his Kerala visit clarifying that chikungunya is non-fatal.