Kerala - Kochi   

Chikungunya cases confirmed in district

Staff Reporter

Five cases from Kuttampuzha near Kothamangalam

KOCHI: All the six samples send by the district health authorities to the Alappuzha Virology Institute have been confirmed as chikungunya infection on Wednesday.

Five cases are from Kuttampuzha near Kothamangalam and one is from V.P. Thuruth at Methala panchayat in Thrissur district..

The rapid response team of the Health Department led by the District Medical Officer, including biologists, insect collector, deputy district medical officer and mass media officer, will visit the affected areas on Thursday as part of the campaign on vector control and preventive steps to keep the disease from spreading.

However, the vector index in the area was not high as compared to other areas where it was critical, D. Sreenivasan, Deputy District Medical Officer, said. A total of 101 suspected cases of chikungunya were reported till now from the district this year.

In the out-patient report on Wednesday, 10 more suspected cases were reported, he said.

The blood samples of the patients were collected from those who had fever for a week, Dr. Sreenivasan said.

In an inter-sectoral meeting held on Tuesday, the Health authorities sought the cooperation from many departments, including the police to help control the growth of mosquitoes. District Medical Officers of Ayurveda and Homoepathy, programme officers of the district health office, District Food Inspector, Executive Engineer of the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) attended the meeting. District Collector A.P.M. Mohammed Hanish chaired the meeting in which representatives of various departments participated.

The vector studies taken up by the Health Department showed a high index of mosquitoes in certain pockets, which might result in an outbreak, said Dr. Sreenivasan.

Vector studies were conducted every week to check the population of mosquitoes. Precautionary measures were taken according to the report, he said. The department resorts to fogging and cleaning of canals to kill the larvae, he said. However, people's participation was a must in not giving mosquitoes a breeding pool of water, he said.

The Deputy Superintendent of Police (Rural)'s help was sought to help in disposal of unused tyres, which were kept in open by re-treading companies. Disposal of plastics and thermocol into the open also needed to be checked as the water collected in it may become a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Fresh water mosquito spreads dengue fever and chikungunya while malarial and filarial vectors breed in stagnant water in canals.

The KWA will chlorinate water at different pumping stations to keep the level of chlorine optimal while distributing. However, the defective pipes were yet to be removed by the authority.

The health authorities will also participate in the Environment Week to be observed by Kochi Corporation.

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