Gujarat Health Minister Rushikesh Patel on Monday advised caution amid reports of six suspected child deaths in the state due to Chandipura viral encephalitis.
Twelve suspected cases have been reported so far in the state of which six children are currently under treatment.
On the suspected deaths, the minister said the government was awaiting test results to confirm if they were caused by Chandipura virus.
AdvertisementThe samples of all these suspected cases have been sent to the lab at Pune for testing, the results of which are expected in an average of 12 to 15 days, said officials.
Cases of the disease are observed every year in Gujarat, especially in the North-Central districts.
Gujarat Health Minister Rushikesh Patel on Monday advised caution amid reports of six suspected child deaths in the state due to Chandipura viral encephalitis. However, he said there was no need for panic.
Twelve suspected cases have been reported so far in the state of which six children are currently under treatment. “Four of these 12 patients are from Sabarkantha district, three from Aravalli and one each from Mahisagar and Kheda. Two patients are from Rajasthan and one from Madhya Pradesh. They received treatment in Gujarat,” according to Patel.
On the suspected deaths, the minister said the government was awaiting test results to confirm if they were caused by Chandipura virus.
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The samples of all these suspected cases have been sent to the lab at Pune for testing, the results of which are expected in an average of 12 to 15 days, said officials.
The cases were first reported by paediatricians at the civil hospital at Himatnagar in Sabarkantha after the death of four children on July 10.
The Chandipura virus, a member of the Vesiculovirus genus of the family Rhabdoviridae, causes fever, with symptoms similar to flu, and acute encephalitis (inflammation of the brain).
The symptoms include high grade fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, headache, and convulsions. It is caused by the bite of a vector-infected sand fly and is especially common among children between 9 months and 14 years old.
The minister has requested to seek immediate medical advice when such symptoms are seen in children.
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The disease is common in the rainy season, especially in the rural areas, but is not contagious. Cases of the disease are observed every year in Gujarat, especially in the North-Central districts.
The state government had issued a notification at the initial stage of intensive surveillance in the affected areas. As a result, 18,646 people among 4,487 houses of the affected areas have been screened so far, the minister said.
A total of 2,093 houses have also been sprayed with insecticides for sandfly control, he added.
Notably, a cerebral fever (CHPV) epidemic with febrile symptoms had broken out in Chandipura district of Maharashtra in 1965.
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Subsequently, the epidemic was also reported in other states, including Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.
