Navi Mum takes steps to keep Zika at bay

NAVI MUMBAI: After Purandar district in Pune reported the first Zika virus case recently, Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) commissioner, Abhijit Bangar, has asked officials to carry out a comprehensive survey and take up a campaign against not just Zika but malaria, dengue, and leptospirosis.

Bangar held an online review meeting with ward-level health officials and gave instructions to take preventive measures to control any outbreak of the diseases.

“Zika has dengue-like symptoms including fever, body rashes, body ache, joint aches etc. There is no fatality in Zika but if a pregnant woman is infected, it can be passed on to her foetus and it can cause certain birth defects as well. If a normal person gets infected, he can be treated,” a medical officer from NMMC said.

Currently, the NMMC officers have started a special drive in the city to destroy the mosquito breeding places, if found. “The mosquitoes causing Zika are found at homes in accumulated water. People should not accumulate water at home,” the officer added.

From January, 10 patients of malaria were found in the NMMC region, and were treated successfully. Similarly, 36 suspected dengue cases were found, and 28 of them were negative. The final reports for the remaining eight cases are yet to come.

Health officials carry out a survey in 100 adjacent homes if a single malaria or dengue case is detected in an attempt to trace the origin. “While for malaria, we have labs that can confirm the disease, for dengue and Zika, we send the suspected serums and urine samples to NIV in Pune to confirm the disease,” the officer added.