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Viral encephalitis death toll touches 73 in Gujarat
Five patients from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh die in Gujarat
A health worker fumigating a slum area in Ahmedabad on July 31, 2024, to prevent the spread of the Chandipura virus.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Gujarat is going through its worst outbreak of Chandipura virus and viral encephalitis, in which 73 people have died so far
The State has reported 162 cases of viral encephalitis, including 60 cases of Chandipura virus, since the outbreak began last month.
The disease has spread to more than two dozen districts [of the total 33 districts] and to cities such as Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Jamnagar and Vadodara.
Five patients from neighbouring Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have died in Gujarat, as per the details shared by the State health department on Thursday (August 8, 2024).
11 under treatment
As on Thursday (August 8, 2024), 11 patients are under treatment while 78 have been discharged after their recovery. “It has spread practically across the State with cases being reported from a majority of districts and municipal corporation cities like Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Jamnagar and Vadodara,” a top health official told The Hindu.
The State health authorities have formed rapid action teams to carry out surveillance in affected areas but their efforts have not helped to contain the disease, as two to three deaths are being reported every day since the outbreak began last month.
In a press statement on Thursday (August 8, 2024), the State health department said that so far, surveillance was carried out in 53,323 houses.
The health department had launched the surveillance mechanism in order to promptly identify cases and refer suspected cases to nearby hospitals and medical colleges that provide 24/7 specialist services and ventilator support. Malathion, a pesticide, has been sprinkled in nearly 7.5 lakh lakh mud houses and cattle sheds in villages for disease control. Liquid pesticide was also sprayed in nearly 1.49 lakh kutcha (non-cemented, un-bricked) houses. Schools and playgrounds in the affected districts too have been covered.
According to medical experts, the sandfly, which carries the Chandipura virus, lives in the cracks of mud houses. In Gujarat, the cases were first reported from villages in the northern parts of the State.
The symptoms of Chandipura virus are similar to those of the flu, but it swiftly progresses to encephalitis, coma, and death within 24 to 48 hours if not treated immediately. Those aged below 15 are the most vulnerable.
The health officials and medical experts have described the outbreak as the worst that the State and even the country has witnessed in over 20 years, with the majority of victims being children and teenagers under the age group of 15.
“In Gujarat, around two dozen cases were reported way back in 2005 and a few deaths had also occurred. This time, the spread and severity is huge,” a senior doctor from a public hospital said.
The first case of Chandipura virus was reported in India way back in 1965 in a village named Chandipura in Maharashtra and since then it has been known as the Chandipura virus. Andhra Pradesh saw a major outbreak in 2003 when 329 children tested positive for the virus and 183 died.
This rod-shaped pathogen is a member of the rabies virus family that causes severe encephalitis, inflammation and swelling in the brain and is spread mainly by sand flies, mosquitoes and ticks.
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