An Upward Trend For Deadly Chikungunya...

The year 2017 was worst for Karnataka state as far as Chikungunya cases are concerned. The state reported the highest percentage of clinically suspected cases. That was more than 50 percent, worse in comparison to any other state in the country. Next to it were not far behind Gujarat and Maharashtra at 12 per cent each. It is there important for the relevant agencies to find out what was the reason for that exorbitant per cent in Karnataka. But that is not the beginning of the story. We will have to go a few years back to see if there was a rise or decline in such cases in those years. As a matter of fact, if you see, the period during 2013 and 2017 was not good for the country as a whole as there was a sharp increase witnessed in the number of Chikungunya cases in the whole country.

These figures come from the National Health Profile (NHP) 2017. This is a national agency that keeps all the statistics and figures of related to health of the country at a micro level. Thus it keeps a track whether the overall health of the country is improving or deteriorating year by year. The same it does for the states of the country going further down to district level. As per the figures presented by NHP the number of clinically suspected Chikungunya cases, there was a tremendous increase from 2013 to 2017. The figures that were 18,840 in 2013 rose up to 63,679 by 2017. That was a whooping jump of 70 per cent in the country. There were many states contributing to this stupendous rise in the cases of this vector borne disease.

For instance, Haryana was on the top of the list contributing a rise of 99 per cent. There was only 1 case of clinically suspected Chikungunya case in the state as per records in 2013. And that rose to 240 in 2017. Delhi, in fact, was not far behind in the race. The number of cases in Delhi increased by 51 times. In Rajasthan, there was an increase by 20 times during the same period.

As we all know  Chikungunya fever is a viral disease transmitted by mosquitoes. It is important to understand that Chikungunya fever symptoms include fever, severe joint pain, headache, nausea, muscle pain, rashes, and fatigue. The disease results from a bite of an infected female mosquito that is known as Aedes aegypti in medical terms. Our environment contributes a lot to our health and hygiene.

The more we care about our environment, the better it is for us in order to stay healthy and active. Chikungunya spreads faster through the open grounds and still water in potholes, clay pots, flowerpots, open vessels and containers, and open sewers. It is very essential to curb spread of this disease by curbing and checking these open areas and ensuring that water doesn’t stagnate in these areas for more than twenty four hours to provide these mosquitoes a favorable environment to breed.

After all, a small amount of awareness and proactive action are important to stay healthy and strong. There is no harm in paying attention to these activities despite however busy a life we may be leading. :)