Over 120 doctors and health experts from Delhi and neighbouring regions were imparted training at AIIMS in “clinical management” of dengue to equip them to ably handle the rush of patients suffering from the vector-borne disease.The programme assumes significance with Delhi reporting two more deaths from dengue and the total number of cases of the vector-borne disease in the city going up to at least 311.
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According to the NVBDCP, Chikungunya cases in India have increased in past three years from 16,049 in 2014, to 27,553 in 2015 and 9,990 cases till 28 July 2016 which is just the starting of the season.
However, the cases witnessed by AIIMS also includes patients from outside Delhi.
According to UNICAMP, its scientists are developing a test to detect and identify the presence of genetic material associated with the Zika virus, dengue and Chikungunya in samples saliva, blood or urine.
Municipal Bodies have deployed additional field workers to check mosquito breeding causing dengue and Chickenguniya.The people have been advised to clean their water storage utensils and tanks and not allow water-logging near their residential areas.
“The rise in the cases this year could be because of chikanguniya virus showing some evolution compared to last year and weather conditions proving conducive to its growth. And, though we have recorded about 42 chikungunya cases, it is actually a lot more”, he said. The civic bodies, however, said only 20 cases have been reported this year.
The states generally affected by chikungunya are Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharasthra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Kerala.
There has been a sudden increase in chikungunya cases in the national capital, with 188 blood samples testing positive for this mosquito-borne disease in the last one and a half months at the AIIMS itself.
Chikungunya is a viral disease transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes.
At a press conference held at the AIIMS on the sidelines of a workshop on dengue, Dhariwal and other health experts acknowledged the sudden spike in chikungunya cases, but appealed to people not to panic. It causes fever and severe joint pain.
There is no cure for the disease.
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The doctors also confirmed that the government both Delhi and the Centre are on their toes in connection with providing medication in for Chikungunya.
