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Central team refutes reports of chikungunya deaths

Staff Reporter

62 cases of chikungunya were reported in Kerala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Central team of experts visiting the fever-affected areas of Kerala has firmly refuted reports of deaths due to chikungunya in any part of the State.

Briefing mediapersons here after the last leg of the visit, technical coordinator of the team D.C. Jain said on Wednesday that there had been no report anywhere from the world indicating chikungunya could cause death.

He said the symptoms of chikungunya were fever and joint pain, and other than ordinary paracetamol, there was no medicine available for it. The fever would subside within a couple of days but the joint pain might persist for some more days.

Mr. Jain said the patient should have rest as exertion might lead to swelling of joints. Normally, the patients developed immunity within a couple of days.

ICMR studies

Replying to questions, he said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had been conducting studies on chikungunya and no mutant variety of either the virus causing the disease or of the vector transmitting it had been detected so far. However, the Central team was carrying samples of the vector and of the blood from the patients, collected from the affected areas in the State for detailed analysis.

Pointing out that mosquito was the vector carrying the virus responsible for chikungunya, Dr. Jain said eliminating mosquito was the only solution to arrest the spread of the disease. Even small water bodies such as the left-out water in a pot would be sufficient for mosquito breeding. It would take about seven days for the larvae to grow into mosquito and it was important to cut its lifecycle before it matured into mosquito, he said.

State Health Secretary Vishwas Mehta, who was also present, said that 62 cases of chikungunya were reported in the State this year, out of which 49 were from Pathanamthitta.

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