News Analysis India

Tag: Zika virus

  • 67-year-old Pune man found Zika virus positive

    By ANI

    PUNE (Maharashtra): A 67-year-old man was found infected with the Zika virus in the Bavdhan area of Pune, the health department said on Friday.

    The man is a resident of Nashik and had come to Pune on November 6. On November 16, he came to Jahangir Hospital with fever, cough, joint pain and fatigue and was diagnosed with Zika in a private laboratory on November 18.

    The patient is clinically stable and has no complications, added Health Department.

    Maharashtra Health Department said, “A case of Zika virus reported in Maharashtra. A 67-year-old man patient was found in Bavdhan Pune city, he is originally from Nashik and had come to Pune on November 6, earlier on October 22 he had traveled to Surat. On November 30 NIV had confirmed that Zika virus infection in him. Currently, the patient is clinically stable and has no complications.”

    An entomological survey of the Zika virus across Pune city is being done to mitigate future outbreaks.

    A further investigation is been carried out.

    Zika virus (ZIKV) disease (ZVD) is considered to be one of the significant public health diseases of concern post-2016 outbreak in Brazil.

    Caused by a virus transmitted primarily by the Aedes mosquito, which bites during the day, symptoms of this disease include mild fever, rashes, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise, or a headache.

    A mosquito-borne flavivirus had been reported to be associated with the increased incidence of microcephaly, congenital Zika syndrome, and Guillain-Barre syndrome.

    Since its discovery in the Zika forest in Uganda in 1947, several outbreaks of ZVD have been reported from Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands. 

    PUNE (Maharashtra): A 67-year-old man was found infected with the Zika virus in the Bavdhan area of Pune, the health department said on Friday.

    The man is a resident of Nashik and had come to Pune on November 6. On November 16, he came to Jahangir Hospital with fever, cough, joint pain and fatigue and was diagnosed with Zika in a private laboratory on November 18.

    The patient is clinically stable and has no complications, added Health Department.

    Maharashtra Health Department said, “A case of Zika virus reported in Maharashtra. A 67-year-old man patient was found in Bavdhan Pune city, he is originally from Nashik and had come to Pune on November 6, earlier on October 22 he had traveled to Surat. On November 30 NIV had confirmed that Zika virus infection in him. Currently, the patient is clinically stable and has no complications.”

    An entomological survey of the Zika virus across Pune city is being done to mitigate future outbreaks.

    A further investigation is been carried out.

    Zika virus (ZIKV) disease (ZVD) is considered to be one of the significant public health diseases of concern post-2016 outbreak in Brazil.

    Caused by a virus transmitted primarily by the Aedes mosquito, which bites during the day, symptoms of this disease include mild fever, rashes, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise, or a headache.

    A mosquito-borne flavivirus had been reported to be associated with the increased incidence of microcephaly, congenital Zika syndrome, and Guillain-Barre syndrome.

    Since its discovery in the Zika forest in Uganda in 1947, several outbreaks of ZVD have been reported from Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands. 

  • 231 cases of Zika reported from 3 states, no deaths recorded: Government

    As many as 147 cases were recorded in four districts of Uttar Pradesh, namely Kanpur (139), Lucknow (6), Unnao (1) and Kannauj (1), the minister said.

  • After Kanpur and Kannauj, now Zika cases reported in Lucknow

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Two cases of Zika virus have been reported in the state capital, a senior government official said here on Friday.

    Lucknow is the third district in the state to report the virus after Kanpur and Kannauj.

    With this, the total number of Zika virus cases in the state has gone up to 111 of which 108 have been reported from Kanpur and one from Kannauj, the official said.

    As many as 17 patients in Kanpur have recovered.

    The patients in Lucknow — a 30-year-old man residing in Hussainganj area and a 24-year-old woman from Krishnanagar area on Kanpur Road — have been isolated and are stable.

    Their samples were taken for tests under random sampling.

    The samples of their close contacts have been taken and fogging and anti-larva spray is being done in the vicinity of their homes, he said.

    Additional Chief Secretary, Medical Health, Amit Mohan Prasad had instructed the officials concerned to take all measures to check spread of the disease.

    During his visit to Kanpur on Wednesday, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanth held discussions with the district and health authorities and reviewed the efforts to deal with the Zika virus in the district.

  • CM Adityanath visits Zika-hit Kanpur, reviews situation

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW:  With Zika infection tally breaching the 100-mark, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday visited the worst-hit Kanpur and spoke to family members of the patients besides reviewing the containment efforts.

    As many as 106 people have been diagnosed with the viral infection in the state so far with first case coming to light at Chakeri Air Force Station in Kanpur on October 23. The CM assured the people of Kanpur of taking all the measures to stop the spread of the virus. He said that of the 106 positive cases detected so far, 17 patients have already recovered. Five municipal wards of the city are in the grip of the virus, said Yogi.

    He urged Kanpur residents not to panic as the district administration, health department and municipal authorities have been strategically working to increase surveillance, sanitisation and investigation in the affected areas.

    “Our team is identifying symptomatic people and providing them with medicine kits,” he said, adding that the remaining patients would recover soon. A senior health official in Kanpur said around 100 teams are deployed in the city for source-reduction, 100 teams for home-sampling and additional 15 rapid response teams (RRT) to check the virus’ spread. “The source-detection teams visited 3,777 houses on Tuesday taking the cumulative tally to 40,238,” he said. The official further said relatives of the patients were under the surveillance.

  • 10 more people test positive for Zika virus in Kanpur, tally rises to 89

    By PTI

    KANPUR/KANNAUJ: Ten more people, including three Indian Air Force personnel, tested positive for Zika virus in Kanpur on Sunday, taking the total number of cases to 89, District Magistrate Vishak G Ayyar said.

    On Saturday, 13 people had tested positive for Zika virus.

    One case was also reported from neighbouring Kannauj district.

    “Out of the 89 infected people, 55 are men and 34 are women. Among these, 23 are those having age below 21 years. Of the total infected people, 12 are Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel. This includes 11 men and one woman,” the district magistrate said.

    Health teams had collected blood samples of 525 people on Thursday, Friday and Saturday which were sent to the virology lab of the King George’s Medical University in Lucknow and the National Institute of Virology in Pune for testing.

    “Of these, 23 samples tested positive for Zika virus,” the district magistrate added.

    Ayyar also said that health teams have collected samples of 525 people who were in close contact with the infected people and living in the radius of 3 km of the IAF station hangars for testing.

    The first case of the virus was reported in the city on October 23 when a warrant officer of the IAF tested positive for the infection.

    So far, a total of 3,283 samples have been collected from the city and sent to the virology lab of KGMU in Lucknow and NIV in Pune for testing.

    Zika is a mosquito-borne virus and hence, getting rid of mosquitoes is the safe way out, the district magistrate said.

    To check the spread of the disease, health teams are undertaking sanitisation programmes, including anti-larvae spraying and identifying fever patients, screening seriously ill people and pregnant women.

    Health officials have been asked to step up surveillance and ensure door-to-door sampling and testing for Zika virus.

    “We advise the local people not to panic regarding the sudden spurt in Zika virus cases,” Ayyar said.

    A high alert has been sounded in the periphery of hangars of the IAF station, another official said.

    Meanwhile, chief medical officer of Kannauj Dr Vinod Kumar on Sunday said, “A 45-year-old person has tested positive of Zika virus in Kapoorpur Katri village under Sadar tehsil of the district. This was confirmed on Saturday. Samples of 32 people were sent for testing, and one sample tested positive for Zika virus.”

    He added that as of now, the Zika virus patient is normal, and he was given treatment at his home itself.

    A team of the health department has sprayed anti-larval spray in the area, he said.

  • 30 more people test positive for Zika virus in Kanpur, tally rises to 66

    By PTI

    KANPUR: Thirty more people have tested positive for Zika virus here, taking the total number of those infected in the district to 66, a senior official said on Friday.

    Of those infected, 45 are men and 21 women, according to officials.

    The first case in Kanpur was reported on October 23 when an Indian Air Force (IAF) warrant officer tested positive for Zika virus.

    “Thirty more people have tested positive for Zika virus in Kanpur,” District Magistrate Vishak G Ayyar said.

    Samples were collected from various pockets in the neighbouring areas of IAF station hangars and sent to the lab at King George’s Medical University (KGMU), Lucknow for testing.

    Thirty of them came back positive for Zika virus, he said.

    Zika is a mosquito-borne virus and hence, getting rid of mosquitoes is the safe way out, he said.

    To check the spread of the disease, health teams are undertaking sanitisation programmes including anti-larvae spraying and identifying fever patients, screening seriously ill people and pregnant women.

    Health officials have been asked to step up surveillance and ensure door-to-door sampling and testing for Zika virus.

    “We advise the local people not to panic regarding the sudden spurt in Zika virus cases,” Ayyar said.

    A high alert has been sounded in the periphery of hangars of the IAF station, another official said.

    To check the spread of Zika virus, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed the health department to ensure strict surveillance and to undertake frequent and extensive door-to-door sanitisation and fogging drives to prevent mosquito breeding.

  • In biggest single-day jump, 30 more test positive for Zika in Kanpur as tally rises to 66

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: In the biggest single-day jump in cases, 30 more persons tested positive for the vector-borne Zika virus in Kanpur on Thursday. This has taken the tally of cases to 66 after the first case was reported in the city on October 23.

    According to Kanpur chief medical officer Dr Nepal Singh, with Thursday’s confirmation by the National Institute for Virology, Pune, where samples were sent for testing three days ago, of the 66 cases, 45 are males and 21 females.

    Zika is a mosquito-borne virus that spreads through the bite of an infected species of mosquito named Aedes aegypti. According to the World Health Organization, the Aedes mosquitoes usually bite during the day, peaking during early morning and late afternoon or evening.

    The first case of the infection was reported in an IAF member at the Kanpur IAF station on October 23. Subsequently, three more cases were also discovered from the same area.

    Though the state health authorities had rushed teams to Kanpur and an area around 3 km radius, where the infection was found, was marked, new cases are being found in the periphery of the IAF station. The main affected areas comprise Lal Kurti, Mangla Vihar, Tiwaripur, Ompurwa, Jagaipurwa and Shyam Nagar localities, which are in the cantonment area but border the main Kanpur city.

    The 30 cases confirmed on Thursday have been reported from new localities such as Bhavanipur and Koyla Nagar, which are beyond the three-km radius area that the health department marked as areas of special interest.

    Kanpur district magistrate Vishakh G Iyer visited both the localities with health department officials. He later said seven teams were on the surveillance and they mainly focused on 350 houses on Thursday. As per the health authorities, around 100 teams were already in the field in Kanpur to ensure surveillance of pregnant women in the affected localities.

    Kanpur has the second-highest number of Zika cases so far, next only to Kerala where a total of 90 patients have been detected.

    On Monday, when only 11 cases were reported, the Uttar Pradesh health department said it has sounded an alert across districts and intensified surveillance under its infectious disease control campaign to identify cases of infection,including the Zika virus, in the early stages.

    The following day, CM Yogi had convened an emergency meeting of officials during which he issued directives to apply the Covid “trace, test, treat” formula to check the spread of dengue and Zika infections.

  • Ten cases of Zika virus confirmed in Kanpur, surveillance stepped up

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh government on Monday said 10 cases of Zika virus have been confirmed in Kanpur as it stepped up surveillance to check its spread, officials said.

    Since the confirmation of the state’s first case of Zika virus in October, the Uttar Pradesh government is carrying out testing of samples on a large-scale, an official statement said.

    So far, a total of 645 samples have been sent to the King George’s Medical University (KGMU), it said, adding that out of these 253 samples have been collected from people with symptoms of fever and 103 samples are of pregnant women.

    A total of 10 patients have tested positive so far in Kanpur district of the state, it said.

    Zika is a mosquito-borne virus that spreads through bite of infected mosquitoes.

    With cases of Zika being reported in the state, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had said on Sunday that the health department must ensure strict surveillance to check spread of the virus and undertake frequent and extensive door-to-door sanitisation and fogging drives to check mosquito breeding.

    People should be made aware of preventive measures and encouraged to maintain cleanliness, he had said.

    The State Health Department has been carrying out an extensive exercise of mass-scale sanitisation, state-wide surveillance drives, spraying of anti-larva chemicals, fogging and cleanliness drives, it said.

    Health workers have been paying door-to-door visits to identify patients with viral fever, vector-borne diseases and with other symptoms.

    Under the drive, so far over 39,897 households have been visited and more than 1,61,535 people have been made aware of preventive measures.

  • Kanpur’s Zika virus case tally reaches 10, focus on halting mosquito breeding

    By Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh has so far reported 10 cases of the Zika virus with six fresh cases of the mosquito-borne virus being reported from Kanpur district. 

    While three of these cases are Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel, the remaining seven, including six reported recently, are all civilians including a pregnant woman, who is under round-the-clock observation.

    According to state government sources, a total of 645 samples have been sent to King George Medical University (KGMU) so far. 253 samples among them have been collected from people with symptoms of fever and 103 samples are of pregnant women. Out of 507 samples tested, merely 9 people have tested positive for Zika virus, while 1 patient had tested positive from the samples that were sent to NIV Pune. 

    READ HERE | Zika virus explained: How is it spread & why pregnant women should take extra caution?

    Heightening preventive measures to eliminate cases of Zika virus in the state, the Uttar Pradesh government will further intensify comprehensive surveillance and implement stringent containment curbs on the breeding of mosquitoes. 

    “The Health Department must ensure strict surveillance to check the spread of Zika virus and should undertake frequent and extensive door-to-door sanitisation and fogging drives to stop mosquito breeding. People should be made aware of preventive measures and must be encouraged to maintain cleanliness,” instructed the Chief Minister in a high-level meeting with senior officials. 

    The state health department has been carrying out mass-scale sanitisation drives, state-wide surveillance, spraying of anti-larva chemicals, and fogging to curtail the spread. The health workers have been paying door-to-door visits to identify patients with viral fever, vector-borne diseases and other symptoms. Under the drive, over 39,897 households have been covered and more than 1,61,535 people have been made aware of the preventive measures to remove mosquito breeding sites. 

    It is noteworthy that since the confirmation of the state’s first case of Zika virus on October 22, the Uttar Pradesh government is carrying out strict testing of samples at a large scale to remove the risk of any further spread at KGMU, Lucknow. 

    Zika is a mosquito-borne virus that spreads through the bite of an infected Aedes species of mosquito named Aedes aegypti. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Aedes mosquitoes usually bite during the day, peaking during early morning and late afternoon or evening. This is the same mosquito that transmits dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever.

    For the majority of people, Zika virus infection is not a serious issue. But it can be very dangerous among pregnant women. The infection can cause microcephaly (a brain disability condition) or other conditions called congenital Zika syndrome.