Chikungunya: The rising menace in the country

The Chikungunya virus, once thought to be dominant only in southern India, is spreading to other parts of the country, too. While chikungunya cases continue to be reported in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and West Bengal, the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) has reported the disease from states such as Delhi, Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Northeastern states.

Mumbai has reported 10 cases of chikungunya from different wards across the city in the government hospitals and another 11 from private hospitals. There are around 47 other probable cases of chikungunya according to the latest health report released by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). It was only in mid-October that the first few confirmed cases of chikungunya surfaced in the city.

Less than three hours away from Mumbai, Pune has already been battling cases of chikungunya for a long time. Between January 1 and August 31 this year Pune recorded 393 cases of chikungunya, around 90 per cent of the state's 439 cases.

"There are cases of chikungunya but they are the milder ones. dengue continues to be a cause of concern for us," said Dr Padmaja Keskar, executive health officer, BMC. The civic officials say that they are expecting a reduction the in the mosquito borne diseases in the coming few weeks as the rains have stopped.

Residents too have a role to play. "Now that the rains have stopped the residents should make an attempt to check water stagnation. That will help reduce dengue cases as well," Dr Keskar added.

The national capital, which recently had an outbreak of the vector born disease, has so far reported 8,720 and 3,650 cases of chikungunya and dengue, respectively. The South Municipal Corporation of Delhi (SDMC) on Monday confirmed 571 new cases of chikungunya and 317 cases of dengue for the week that ended on October 29, down from 713 and 324 cases, respectively, the previous week.

"The cases of chikungunya are going down. In the last two weeks, I have just witnessed only two cases and a single dengue patient. Generally, the dengue cases are high at the time of October but this time the trend has been different," a senior doctor at Lok Nayak hospital said.

In view of the rising number in chikungunya and dengue cases the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has directed the municipal bodies and state government officials to be alert over next two months and to gear up activities and measures to be taken for awareness generation, prevention and control of chikungunya so as to effectively address the situation, and not allow it to escalate.

According to the NVBDCP, chikungunya cases in India have increased in over the past years from 16,049 in 2014 to 27,553 in 2015. As many as 12,250 cases have been reported nationwide till September this year.