Thiruvananthapuram: A team of district health administration officials and a medical team from the Community Medicine department of Medical College visited Vizhinjam on Wednesday following reports of a spurt in viral fever cases in the area.

There has been an increase in fever cases in the area in the past one week. As many as 162 patients have turned up at the Vizhinjam community health centre (CHC) with fever in the past three days. At present, the 32-bed CHC is accommodating 42 in-patients, of whom 30 are being treated for viral fever. A number of fever cases are being reported at the local private clinics also.

Even though doctors feel that the current spurt in fever cases could be a result of climatic changes, patients complaining of severe joint pain (myalgia) have led to concerns of chikungunya viral fever.

Blood serum samples will be collected from the area on Thursday and sent to the virology lab in Pune for tests for chikungunya, District Medical Officer E.K. Madhavan said.

Outbreak of chikungunya has been reported from many districts in neighbouring Tamil Nadu in the recent months. Following the ban on trawling, Vizhinjam harbour and its adjoining areas have seen a number of fishermen from districts such as Kanyakumari come here for fishing.

Chikungunya does not spread through direct contact between humans but can be spread by mosquitoes that have bitten infected persons.

Preventive measures and steps for vector control have been intensified in the area. The district health administration is closely monitoring the situation at Vizhinjam so that the disease does not spread along the coast, Dr. Madhavan said.

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