Ahmedabad: Death toll from the deadly Chandipura virus in Gujarat has touched 15 with officials confirming the recent death of a child death due to Chandipura infection. The said child, a four-year-old girl from Aravalli, died last week at a hospital in Sabarkantha district. Test results show presence of the virus in her system.
Officials also suspect another the child death at a private hospital in Goghamba might to be virus related. The test result from Pune Virology Lab is awaited in the case.
Meanwhile, the Health Dept in Gujarat said 29 children were diagnosed as having the virus and are currently under treatment. The State govt stated 12 districts as hit by the the virus spread, namely, Sbarkantha, Aravalli , Mahisagar, Kheda, Mehsana and Rajkot. Children hailing from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh are also under medical care in Gujarat.
The Health Minister informed appointment of a special medical team to research the Chandipura virus and come upon preventives. The Health workers meanwhile cautioned of larger number of people who might be harbouring the virus and reporting at hospitals in coming days. Health systems across all districts have been put on high alert.
The deadly pathogen : Chandipura is a rare virus but potentially deadly and mostly affects children up to 14 years of age. The symptoms are fever, flu-like issues, diarrhea, and in acute cases, causes severe encephalitis(inflammation of brain). The virus transits through mosquitos, ticks and sandflies. Once infected the illness progresses at fast pace with coma and sometimes death in the end.
The virus gets its name from first case that was reported in 1965 in Maharashtra’s Chandipura. The virus killed 322 people in 2004.
