The Hindu : Kerala News : Mishandled epidemic

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Monday, Nov 13, 2006
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Kerala

Mishandled epidemic

Mishandled epidemic

The recent abrupt outbreak of chikungunya, claiming nearly 140 lives in Alappuzha district, especially in and around Chertala taluk, has created much havoc in the State. There has been confusion and mass phobia, thanks to the mishandling of the epidemic by the media and politicians. The whole scenario has been hijacked, manipulated and tailored to fulfil the heinous ends of "so-called alternative healers, of which homoeopaths as usual and as expected turn out to be the frontrunners."

Chikungunya is derived from Kungunyala, a term from Makonde language of Tanzania, meaning "bending" or "doubling together." The first-ever scientific document of the disease comes from the 1953 epidemic in Tanzania, where scientists could isolate the "CHIK-V" Arbo virus both from patients and Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Viral infections, except for a few such as chickenpox, are not amenable to treatment, but can be effectively contained. Unlike dengue fever, chikungunya is relatively mild, with symptoms extending from one week to three weeks, and rarely does it lead to death. The fatalities may be because of complications or coexisting morbid conditions. But the possibility of infection by a new more virulent mutant strain cannot be ruled out. K.P. Mohanan,

Kozhikode

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Kozhikode

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