New Delhi: Despite the innumerous preventive measures taken by the government, chikungunya has been onthe rise.
Delhi has reported 71 cases of chikungunya so far compared to the 43 last year. Usuallythe cases would reduce with the arrival of winters, but seems like the trend has been broken. It isa viral disease transmitted by the Aedes mosquitoes. Some symptoms of Chikungunya includejoint pain and inflammation, severe fatigue and leg swelling, which can last for weeks and months.
Eight cases of dengue were reported the previous day. "The total number of people affectedby dengue fever this year has reached the 953 mark. Dengue cases are gradually showing adownward trend," MCD health committee chairman V K Monga said.
Apart from the 71 cases already reported, there could be more which have gone undetected bythe MCD census. The private hospitals, clinics and some govt. hospitals do not report these casesto the MCD despite constant notifications. "There are 125 clinics, managed by MCD, whichreport about malaria and chikungunya cases. Private hospitals and some government hospitalsdo not report to us about these disease which leads of underreporting. We have written severaltimes to the hospitals to report to us about all notifiable as it would help us plan for targetedinterventions and necessary preventive measures," said a MCD official
There have been many campaigns to spread awareness about the disease. Chikungunya doesn’thave a specific treatment as yet; the medicines are still being worked upon. The best that one cando is to be extremely careful, after all “prevention is better than cure”.
