Wednesday, October 04, 2006

"THE KERALA WONT DO MODEL WORSEN THE SITUATION " SAYS THE MANORAMA ARTICLE ( The full article is availabl on the manorama website)

Even while Chikungunya spread its terror in Cherthala, with a geography suitable for the spread of mosquitoes, the Department of Health was unmoved. The number of the dead climbed even as it was claimed that those already affected by other diseases were succumbing to Chikungunya. Why did the medical fraternity undermine the lethality of the disease, knowing the population of Kerala is disease-prone? When a disease starts to spread, the first counter step is to conduct blood tests and frame the cause. Experts from the National Institute of Virology are yet to arrive. It takes several weeks for blood samples taken from hospitals in Kerala to be tested at this centre in Pune. If the Virology Institute in Alappuzha was well equipped, the virus could have been identified much earlier. Experts at the National Institute of Communicable Diseases have identified the virus as the West Nile Fever strain. This strain originated in Egypt, on the banks of the Nile river. This disease was recently noticed in some African countries.

The only step in prevention being the timely removal of mosquitoes the kerala health officials have taken their regular go slow attitude in this case also...

We will have to pay huge loses for this attitude..

The god sould only save us ....
chicken Guniya treatement


No vaccine or specific antiviral treatment for chikungunya fever is available. Treatment is symptomatic--rest, fluids, and ibuprofen, naproxen, acetaminophen, or paracetamol may relieve symptoms of fever and aching. Aspirin should be avoided Infected persons should be protected from further mosquito exposure (staying indoors and/or under a mosquito net during the first few days of illness) so that they can't contribute to the transmission cycle.
Tips to prevent the epidemic

The best way to avoid CHIKV infection is to prevent mosquito bites. There is no vaccine or preventive drug. Prevention tips are similar to those for dengue or West Nile virus:

-Use insect repellent containing an DEET or another EPA-registered active ingredient on exposed skin. Always follow the directions on the package.
-Wear long sleeves and pants (ideally treat clothes with permethrin or another repellent).
-Have secure screens on windows and doors to keep mosquitoes out.
-Get rid of mosquito breeding sites by emptying standing water from flower pots, buckets and barrels.
-Change the water in pet dishes and replace the water in bird baths weekly. Drill holes in tire swings so water drains out.
-Keep children's wading pools empty and on their sides when they aren't being used.
Additionally, a person with chikungunya fever or dengue should limit their exposure to mosquito bites in order to avoid further spreading the infection.
-The person should stay indoors or under a mosquito net.
What is chicken Guniya?

Chikungunya fever is a viral disease transmitted to humans by the bite of infected mosquitoes. Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a member of the genus Alphavirus, in the family Togaviridae . CHIKV was first isolated from the blood of a febrile patient in Tanzania in 1953, and has since been identified repeatedly in west, central and southern Africa and many areas of Asia , and has been cited as the cause of numerous human epidemics in those areas since that time. The virus circulates throughout much of Africa , with transmission thought to occur mainly between mosquitoes and monkeys.

What type of illness does chikungunya virus cause?

CHIKV infection can cause a debilitating illness, most often characterized by fever, headache, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, muscle pain, rash, and joint pain. The term 'chikungunya' is Swahili for 'that which bends up.'
The incubation period (time from infection to illness) can be 2-12 days, but is usually 3-7 days. "Silent" CHIKV infections (infections without illness) do occur; but how commonly this happens is not yet known.
Acute chikungunya fever typically lasts a few days to a couple of weeks, but as with dengue, West Nile fever, o'nyong-nyong fever and other arboviral fevers, some patients have prolonged fatigue lasting several weeks. Additionally, some patients have reported incapacitating joint pain, or arthritis which may last for weeks or months. The prolonged joint pain associated with CHIKV is not typical of dengue. Co-circulation of dengue fever in many areas may mean that chikungunya fever cases are sometimes clinically misdiagnosed as dengue infections, therefore the incidence of chikungunya fever could be much higher than what has been previously reported.
No deaths, neuroinvasive cases, or hemorrhagic cases related to CHIKV infection have been conclusively documented in the scientific literature.
CHIKV infection (whether clinical or silent) is thought to confer life-long immunity.

how can we prevent chicken guniya???

There is no cure for ChickenGuniya however one can prevent it from taking hold in your body by activating your immune response by early use of Vitamin C and Zinc supplements and drinking green tea. If you do get this virus, hydrate the body.

Drink 6-8 glasses of clean distilled water each day.

Throw away the table salt and replace it with sea salt. This will help with body aches. Add a pinch to your water.

Take as much Vitamin C as you can without causing diarrhea. When your stools begin to become loose and liquid, back off to a little less Vitamin C.

Take a small amount of Zinc supplement every day.

Drink apple juice and add a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar with a dash of cinnamon.

To eradicate the disease in your area, eliminate pools of standing water where mosquitoes breed.

If it is a stagnant pool of standing water, a tiny bit of neem oil or catnip oil will prevent the mosquitoes from laying eggs in the water.

For your own body, catnip oil is ten times stronger than DEET for preventing mosquito bites. I would mix some with rosemary oil and lavender and bathe or rinse with this mixture in the late afternoon and I would bathe or spray some on in the morning to prevent bites. The most common time for bites is in the hours before sunset and after sunrise.

Vitamin E repels mosquitoes.