After dengue, chikungunya on feverish high in national capital

Chikungunya, apart from the mosquito-borne dengue, is on a feverish high in the Capital this year.

Chikungunya, apart from the mosquito-borne dengue, is on a feverish high in the Capital this year.

Chikungunya is caused by the bite of the same aedes aegypti mosquito that causes dengue.(AFP)

Though the number of dengue cases this year is high, hospitals across the city are receiving more patients with classic chikungunya symptoms — high-grade fever for four or five days along with severe joint pains.

Chikungunya is caused by the bite of the same aedes aegypti mosquito that causes dengue

To date, 171 cases of dengue have been reported by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in the Delhi-NCR. Only 119 cases of dengue had been reported during the same period last year, when Delhi had seen its worst outbreak, affecting almost 16,000 people and killing 60.

“Every day I see around three to five suspected chikungunya cases in my clinic,” said Dr Suranjit Chatterjee, senior consultant of internal medicine at Indraprastha Apollo hospital. It is at least double the number of dengue cases that he has seen in his clinic, he said.

“I have hardly seen any dengue cases in my clinic, whereas, more than 50% of the fever cases show clinical symptoms of chikungunya. Around 90% of those who get the PCR assay test done, test positive for chikungunya,” said, Dr Rommel Tickoo, senior consultant of internal medicine at Max Super-Speciality Hospital, Saket.

A PCR test costs around`3,500 to `4,000.

“This year, we have not been able to identify the dengue strain doing the rounds because only a few positive cases have come. We are getting more number of positive chikungunya cases,” said Dr Lalit Dar, professor, department of microbiology at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

However, the Municipal Corporations of Delhi (MCD) have so far reported only one case of chikungunya till July 30.

If a person is suffering from chikungunya, the fever subsides only after four or five days. The itchy rashes take another five days and the joint pain may persist for a week or two.