150 die in India due to dengue, chikungunya
NEW DELHI (ICNS)
--Two mosquito-born diseases--dengue and chikungunya--continue to kill dozens of people across India as hospitals, clinics and health centres reported a surge in patients.
Health Ministry statistics said that while dengue that has spread in north India, especially New Delhi has killed some 45 people, around 105 people have died of chikungunya in the southern state of Kerala in the last two weeks.
Hospitals and clinics in the diseases-hit areas continue to report a surge of patients complaining of fever, bone joint pains, headaches and vomiting.
Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss who held a high level meeting of officials including World Health Organization experts said the situation was not that of an epidemic. ?We expect that the number of dengue and chikungunya cases would decrease by next week,? he said.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's two grandsons?Madhav and Rohan--were last week admitted to the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences with dengue. His son-in-law has also been admitted there with dengue-like symptoms.
The prime minister met dengue patients at AIIMS on Sunday as the number of those hit by the mosquito-borne viral fever across the country rose to 3,407 and the death toll touched 46.
A total of 886 cases have been reported from Delhi and adjoining states, the health ministry said. Out of these, 538 cases are from Delhi alone.
"So far 21 people have died of dengue in Delhi. Of them, 11 had come from places outside the city," said D.S. Negi, Delhi's health secretary.
Besides the Indian capital, which has been badly affected, the maximum dengue cases have been reported from Kerala (713), Gujarat (424), Rajasthan (326), West Bengal (314), Tamil Nadu (306) and Maharashtra (226).
Patients have also fallen sick in Uttar Pradesh (79), Haryana (65), Karnataka (59) and Andhra Pradesh (9).In Kerala, most of the chikungunya deaths have occurred in Alappuzha district, which is surrounded by backwaters.
The government has declared that some 105 people have died of chikungunya in the last three weeks Kerala?s coastal district of Alappuzha, which is surrounded by backwaters, thus making many villages breeding grounds for mosquitoes that infect the rare viral fever.
Chikungunya is a relatively rare form of viral fever transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes. In the last three months, there have been some 300 deaths across southern India states, especially Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, mainly due to chikungunya.
Dengue is caused by the bite of the female aedes aegypti mosquito that breeds in stagnant water, is marked by high fever, skin rashes and a sharp drop in blood platelet count that can prove fatal.
http://www.theindiancatholic.com/newsread.asp?nid=3815
NEW DELHI (ICNS)
--Two mosquito-born diseases--dengue and chikungunya--continue to kill dozens of people across India as hospitals, clinics and health centres reported a surge in patients.
Health Ministry statistics said that while dengue that has spread in north India, especially New Delhi has killed some 45 people, around 105 people have died of chikungunya in the southern state of Kerala in the last two weeks.
Hospitals and clinics in the diseases-hit areas continue to report a surge of patients complaining of fever, bone joint pains, headaches and vomiting.
Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss who held a high level meeting of officials including World Health Organization experts said the situation was not that of an epidemic. ?We expect that the number of dengue and chikungunya cases would decrease by next week,? he said.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's two grandsons?Madhav and Rohan--were last week admitted to the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences with dengue. His son-in-law has also been admitted there with dengue-like symptoms.
The prime minister met dengue patients at AIIMS on Sunday as the number of those hit by the mosquito-borne viral fever across the country rose to 3,407 and the death toll touched 46.
A total of 886 cases have been reported from Delhi and adjoining states, the health ministry said. Out of these, 538 cases are from Delhi alone.
"So far 21 people have died of dengue in Delhi. Of them, 11 had come from places outside the city," said D.S. Negi, Delhi's health secretary.
Besides the Indian capital, which has been badly affected, the maximum dengue cases have been reported from Kerala (713), Gujarat (424), Rajasthan (326), West Bengal (314), Tamil Nadu (306) and Maharashtra (226).
Patients have also fallen sick in Uttar Pradesh (79), Haryana (65), Karnataka (59) and Andhra Pradesh (9).In Kerala, most of the chikungunya deaths have occurred in Alappuzha district, which is surrounded by backwaters.
The government has declared that some 105 people have died of chikungunya in the last three weeks Kerala?s coastal district of Alappuzha, which is surrounded by backwaters, thus making many villages breeding grounds for mosquitoes that infect the rare viral fever.
Chikungunya is a relatively rare form of viral fever transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes. In the last three months, there have been some 300 deaths across southern India states, especially Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, mainly due to chikungunya.
Dengue is caused by the bite of the female aedes aegypti mosquito that breeds in stagnant water, is marked by high fever, skin rashes and a sharp drop in blood platelet count that can prove fatal.
http://www.theindiancatholic.com/newsread.asp?nid=3815