Dengue Fever outbreak in India spreads

[Pastor Dale Morgan]

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Plagues, Pestilences and Diseases

Dengue Fever outbreak in India spreads*

05 Oct 2006 13:22:21 GMT
Source: Reuters

NEW DELHI, Oct 5 (Reuters) - An outbreak of dengue fever has swept
across India's capital and five states, killing 38 people and infected
over 2,900 others, Health Minister Ambumani Ramadoss said on Thursday.

The mosquito-borne disease, which began spreading in late August, has
seen hundreds of people flocking to hospitals complaining of fever in
New Delhi and in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, West
Bengal and Kerala.

"It is a concern for us, but it is not an epidemic as the numbers and
parameters we have are not enough," Ramadoss told a news conference
after meeting health ministers from affected states.

Ramadoss said there had been 15 deaths and around 670 cases in Delhi and
its surrounding areas alone, but said the outbreak was not as serious as
in previous years.

Dengue cases peak in October, a prime time for mosquitoes to breed after
the end of the monsoon rains.

Last year there were 157 deaths and around 11,000 cases nationwide,
Ramadoss said.

Dengue is transmitted through the bite of the female aedes aegypti
mosquito -- also know as the "Asian tiger" due to its striped appearance
and aggressive behaviour.

The virus, which occurs mainly in the tropics, causes symptoms such as
fever, severe headache, joint and muscular pains, vomiting and rashes.

Health officials say most of the cases involve the less dangerous strain
of the virus -- which is not known to cause the deadly dengue
haemorrhagic fever -- and add that those who had died of the virus also
had other complications.

MEASURES TO STEM OUTBREAK

Authorities have been fumigating areas where cases have been reported
and have launched campaigns to tell people how to avoid being infected.

Posters and announcements on radio and television advise the public to
use mosquito repellents, and clear rubbish and stagnant water pools --
considered breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

The government has also imposed fines on those who do not clean areas
around their homes and offices. Construction companies, some of whom are
poorly managing their waste water and garbage will also be penalised,
said Ramadoss.

"Dengue is primarily a sanitation problem and secondarily a health
problem. It is not only a government responsibility, it is a collective
rseponsiblity for households and individuals," he said.

An outbreak at the country's top hospital, the All India Institute of
Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi last week, highlighted the scale
of the problem.

The state-run hospital was itself found to be a breeding ground for the
virus due to poor cleanliness and sanitation, having ignored repeated
warnings from local authorities, media reports said.

Officials said that 16 of the 48 cases there came from within the
hospital itself.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) officials say the state of hospitals
in India and other developing countries is compromising the safety and
health of patients.

Newspapers reported on Thursday that the outbreak may even have reached
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's family, with a son-in-law and two
grandsons admitted to hospital with fever and due to undergo tests.