Alert after blood sample of 5-year-old victim tests positive
Medical officers are on high alert after a 5-year-old died of Chandipura Virus in Gujarat.The blood samples of the girl who died on June 30 was tested positive for the virus by NIV Pune. Four more suspected cases, all of children below 11, were reported in Dahod (July 16, 2019) in which two of them have died; the rest under special care.There is no treatment for the virus as of yet.
The Chandipura virus was discovered by 2 Pune-based virologists of the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in 1965. The Chandipura Vesiculovirus (CHPV) predominantly affects children.In 2010, 29 suspected cases were reported of which 17 were children, all from Kheda, Panchmahals and Vadodara.The virus spreads mainly through the bite of sand flies and sometimes through mosquitoes.
The symptoms include sudden high fever accompanied by headache, convulsions and vomiting, sometimes leading to unconsciousness. Cases have mostly been reported during monsoon and pre-monsoon, when sand flies breed
The last cases reported in Gujarat were in 2014, That time about four children children aged between five and 14 were affected by the virus. Medical officials with the help of health workers have undertaken cleaning of areas in the house where dust accumulates to destroy breeding ground of sand flies.
Although there is no proper treatment, timely detection, hospitalisation and symptomatic treatment can help save lives.
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