India reports 3 Zika cases
new delhi — India has reported its first three cases of the Zika virus, including two pregnant women who delivered healthy babies. Health Ministry officials said on Sunday the three patients in Gujarat had recovered.
“There is no need to panic,” said Dr Soumya Swaminathan, a top health ministry official.
The World Health Organisation said the three cases that India reported to them on May 15 were detected through routine blood test in a hospital in Ahmadabad. —
new delhi — The Zika virus has entered India, though the government has been saying it has taken pre-emptive measures. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed three cases of Zika virus, including a pregnant woman. The patients all reside in the Bapunagar area in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. These are the first confirmed Zika cases in the country.
Zika virus disease is caused by a virus transmitted primarily by Aedes mosquitoes active especially in the morning. People with Zika virus display symptoms including mild fever, skin rash, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise or headache. These symptoms normally last for 2-7 days. But it could turn out to be deceptively fatal.
The WHO confirmed medical reports from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare - Government of India (MoHFW). This was further confirmed at the national reference laboratory at the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune.
Between February 10-16 in 2016, a total of 93 blood samples were collected at BJ Medical College (BJMC) out of which one sample from a 64-year-old male had tested positive for Zika virus.
“This was the first Zika positive case reported from Gujarat,” the WHO statement said.
Also, a 34-year-old woman delivered a baby at BJMC on November 9 and during her stay in the hospital she had developed a lowgrade fever after delivery. The woman had no history of fever during pregnancy and had no history of travel for three months. A sample from the patient was referred to the Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (VRDL) for dengue testing and was found to be positive for the Zika virus.
The Zika virus is often very similar to the symptoms of mild forms of dengue fever and has no clear treatment option and is easily transmitted from an infected pregnant woman to her child. The particular danger with Zika virus is that it can cause microcephaly, severe brain malformations, and other birth defects.
Besides, a 22-year-old pregnant woman in her 37th week of pregnancy was tested positive for Zika virus disease at the same hospital.
The government had confirmed these cases and had sent the details of the patients to the WHO in March after which the global health body’s confirmation in these cases came on Saturday, a ministry official said.
The government has constituted an inter-ministerial task force to tackle the spread of the virus.
All international airports and ports have displayed information for travellers on Zika virus while the airport health officers along with airport organisations, the National Centre for Disease Control and the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme are monitoring appropriate vector control measures in airport premises. So far the WHO has issued no travel advisory against India.
The Indian Council of Medical Research has tested 34,233 human samples and 12,647 mosquito samples for the presence of Zika virus. Among those, close to 500 mosquitoes samples were collected from Bapunagar area in Gujarat, and were found negative for Zika.
“These findings suggest low level transmission of Zika virus and new cases may occur in the future,” WHO said. It warned the virus is likely to spread fast.
The risk of further spread of Zika virus to areas where the competent vectors, the Aedes mosquitoes, are present is significant given the wide geographical distribution of these mosquitoes in various regions of the world.
The disease has claimed many lives in United States, Brazil and other countries before it entered India. The Zika virus also known as ZIKV. It is a mutant strain of virus that belongs to the Flaviviridae virus family.
The name Zika virus has been derived from the Zika forest of Uganda where the virus was first isolated back in 1947. The Zika virus disease often spreads in a similar manner of other mosquitoborne diseases like dengue, malaria, and chicken guinea.
There are no specific treatment options for Zika virus. But the patient suffering from this disease is often advised complete bed rest and increased water intake. The Zika fever is treated with basic paracetamol and pain medication. The crucial factor in the treatment is its early detection.