Ramya Kannan and

Karthik Subramanian

CHENNAI: It appears that the self-limiting disease chikungunya may have reached Chennai, though confirmation is awaited from the National Institute of Virology, Pune.

Two weeks ago, the health department of the Chennai Corporation collected blood samples from 20 persons at Old Washermanpet and Korukkupet, based on information from a retired Corporation doctor in the area. Since then, scattered reports of suspected chikungunya cases have been reported from Park Town, Purasawakkam, Saidapet, Vyasarpadi and Mylapore, though Corporation health posts have not recorded the disease.

The 20 patients whose blood samples were taken have been categorised as "Acutely ill" and "Convalescing." Verification by health department officials has revealed that some patients had visited Tirupati, where an outbreak was reported recently. Other cases have also been reported from areas with people who have been to Tirupati, Corporation Health department officials said.

Pandemic proportions

Chikun gunya was officially reported in India around November last year, said C. Nagaraj, Research Officer, Regional Office for Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. Characterised by high fever and headaches, the disease is marked for severe joint aches, which persist for about a month. The word "Chikungunya" itself comes from Swahili for "bent" describing the posture of an affected person.

Spread by the same mosquito that causes dengue, Aedes Aegypti, it is said to be a self-limiting disease with nearly nil mortality, unlike dengue. However, chikungunya, which can be detected by a blood test, is said to be debilitating and has no specific course of treatment. Only the symptoms are treated. The same precautions taken to prevent dengue are advocated to keep chikungunya at bay too: cleaning water containers frequently and preventing stagnation of fresh water, said the Corporation Vector Control Officer. Civic authorities too must spruce up their vector control programmes.

The issue was highlighted at the Chennai Corporation Council meeting on Tuesday when one of the councillors, P. Ullaselvan of the DMK, said the disease was spreading in North Chennai. Corporation Health Department officials, meanwhile, await confirmation from Pune to launch large-scale awareness campaigns.

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