Health Dept claims 171 dengue, 106 chikungunya cases in Amritsar

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 19

While a large number of the city residents have symptoms of mosquito-borne diseases, the district Health Department has till date reported only 171 dengue and 106 chikungunya cases.

As per figures released by the Health Department on Saturday, 12 dengue cases and eight chikungunya cases were detected in the last 24 hours. At present, the district has a total of 52 active dengue and 33 chikungunya cases.

It is suspected the figures released by the department are minuscule in comparison to the actual numbers. A senior health official said, “A patient is declared to have contracted dengue only if he or she tests positive on Mac Elisa test. Similarly, there is a specific test for declaring a patient positive for chikungunya.”

The official said of nearly 50 patients with symptoms similar to those of chikungunya, only two or three were declared positive after being tested specifically for the disease.

The health experts stated that a large number of patients with symptoms of viral fever were reporting at hospitals. Even as the Health Department had instructed private hospitals and clinics to inform officials regarding arrival of suspected dengue and chikungunya patients so that confirmatory tests could be conducted, most physicians and even patients preferred tests which were readily available at private labs.

Treatment for vector-borne diseases

There is no specific antiviral treatment available for dengue and malaria. As such these are managed symptomatically by doctors. The health experts advocate increased intake of fluids, Vitamin C and complete bed rest. The experts say that fever can be biphasic (ie in two phases) and patients should take adequate rest.

Chikungunya symptoms

The most common symptoms are fever and joint pain. Other symptoms may include headache, muscle pain, joint swelling or rashes.

Dengue symptoms

The most common symptoms of dengue are fever with nausea, vomiting, rashes, aches including eye pain (typically behind eyes), or pain in muscles, joints or bones.

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