Zika cases in Rajasthan reach 55

JAIPUR/ NEW DELHI: More cases of Zika virus were detected in Jaipur Saturday taking the total number of infected people to 55, a Rajasthan health department official said.

The figure was issued by the department after a review meeting chaired by the additional chief secretary (medical and health) Veenu Gupta.

The official said of the total patients, 38 are doing fine after treatment. Union Health Ministry officials said fresh mosquito samples have been collected from various parts of Jaipur by a team from the National Institute of Malaria Research (NIMR).

Rajput Hostel on Station Road was quarantined from Friday evening after six students were found to be zika positive. Two policemen have been deployed outside the gate to stop students from going out.

With the central bus stand at Sindhi Camp situated just 300 metres away from Rajput Hostel, the risk of the infection spreading from the hostel remains high. “This is the reason we have quarantined Rajput Hostel.

Thousands of people travel to different parts of the state and outside the state from Sindhi Camp and we do not want to risk zika virus disease spreading,” said an official requesting anonymity.

All the students and staff of the hostel are being monitored, said Dr VK Mathur, director of public health.

Thirty-eight, including the pregnant women, have recovered and six are being kept in an isolation ward at Health and Family Welfare Training Centre at Heera Bagh in Jaipur.

This virus, which spreads through the bite of an infected aedes aegypti mosquito that breeds in clean water, can prove dangerous to pregnant women, that too in first trimester as it puts the unborn child at risk of microcephaly, a birth abnormality in which the child’s head is smaller than normal.

“Six students suffering from zika virus disease have been kept in isolation at Health and Family Welfare Training Centre at Heera Bagh in Jaipur.

“We are not infected, but still not allowed to go out of the hostel, but what about people who are coming into the hostel? Won’t they be affected by coming into the hostel?” said Sandeep Singh, 23, who is doing his LLB.