PMC starts surveillance to counter Chandipura virus threat
Chandipura virus is a member of the rhabdoviridae family known to cause sporadic cases and outbreaks in western, central and southern parts of the country, especially during the monsoon season
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has started surveillance and testing of suspected patients for Chandirpura virus infection, along with Japanese Encephalitis and dengue, said officials.
“The health department has issued orders to all zonal medical officers and ward medical officers to start preparing healthcare facilities to handle such cases and a letter regarding the same was issued by PMC on Tuesday,” said Dr Kalpana Baliwant, health officer of PMC.
Chandipura virus is a member of the rhabdoviridae family known to cause sporadic cases and outbreaks in western, central and southern parts of the country, especially during the monsoon season.
India has reported a Chandipura virus outbreak in Gujarat and cases have also been reported in the neighbouring states of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Following this the Maharashtra health department on July 19 issued an advisory.
Dr Baliwant said, all PMC-run hospital heads have been asked to make sure there are adequate quantities of medicines and facilities to treat such patients. “In case there is a shortage of medicines they are asked to immediately raise a request for the same in advance. This will help avoid inconvenience to the patients,” she said.
As per officials, the infection is mostly reported in children under 15 years with symptoms such as sudden fever, behavioural changes, convulsions, or fainting, and they will immediately be referred to the nearest hospital.
Chandipura infection causes encephalitis, which is the inflammation or swelling of brain tissue. Typical symptoms include a rapid onset of fever, vomiting, altered mental state, convulsions, diarrhea, neurological deficits, and signs of meningeal irritation.
Dr Suryakant Devkar, assistant health officer, said the focus is more on awareness to be created amongst the public.
“All health officers are asked to start information education and communication activities in the city to create awareness about the Chandipura virus. Information about vector-borne diseases cases will be reported in the Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP) portal. This will help monitor the disease outbreak if any,” he said.
