Nagpur: The new variant of Chikungunya identified at the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, a few days ago, is causing havoc in Nagpur. It is not only leading to faster spread but the period of illness and severity has increased.
The hospitals in Nagpur are full with the patients suffering from dengue and chikungunya, both mosquito-borne viral illnesses caused by the chikungunya virus (CHIKV), primarily transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. The statistics of both the diseases reveal that Nagpur city recorded 2,873 patients of dengue since January till today while 3,556 patients were of chikungunya. Dengue has been troubling the city since January this year but chikungunya entered Nagpur in June, 2024 when 82 persons were detected with the infection. According to experts, not all cases of this dreaded disease have found their way into the records.
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Monday 23 Sept. 2024
The severity of the disease is more. People are suffering from joint pain like the ones suffer when they have arthritis. There are some cases where the disease is troubling to the extent that they are experiencing heart ailment. The illness is a prolonged one. In many cases the plate count has gone down even to 43,000. Chikungunya is leading to people suffering from Encephalitis. It is a serious condition that causes the brain to swell due to inflammation, said an expert, adding the Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RTPCR) test is giving faster results. This test helps doctors notice chikungunya faster than any other tests.
According to another expert, in IgM or in other tests, patients may not be detected on the first day. RTPCR works faster and makes the job of doctors easy. As far as blackening of the nose is concerned, there is nothing unusual. The blood supply is very good at the tip of the nose so its reaction to virus at that place is severe.
The Executive Director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences confirmed that this year chikungunya is haunting unlike in the past. People are having a lot of problems. People have been having pain in their joints for more than a month. The major culprit is the mosquito that troubles human beings during daytime, he said.
