UP govt increases zika surveillance as case count reaches 11 in Kanpur

In Kanpur, the health department has formed more than 100 teams of auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs), Ashas (accredited social health activists) and health department employees to locate pregnant women and screen them thoroughly, said Dr GK Mishra, additional director (health) of Kanpur division

After the detection of 11 zika virus cases in Kanpur since October 23, including one on Monday, the Uttar Pradesh health department has sounded an alert across districts and intensified surveillance under its infectious disease control campaign to identify cases of infection, including Zika virus disease, in the early stages, health officials said on Monday.

Uttar Pradesh govt has increased zika surveillance after 11 cases were confirmed in Kanpur. (Representational image)

On Monday, Dr Vedvrat Singh, Uttar Pradesh director general of medical health, said, “We are conducting the infectious disease control campaign in the state and all health staff have been briefed about the zika virus cases and asked to keep a watch in their respective areas. Although, no other district other than Kanpur has reported zika virus cases till now.”

“The health staffers have been asked to report and get tested all fever cases irrespective of the reasons and medical history,” said Singh.

In Kanpur, the health department has formed more than 100 teams of auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs), Ashas (accredited social health activists) and health department employees to locate pregnant women and screen them thoroughly, said Dr GK Mishra, additional director (health) of Kanpur division.

The decision was taken after 400 pregnant women, out of 52,000 screened, were found extremely vulnerable to the zika virus in south-east Kanpur, according a statistical analysis by the health department, under the guidance of specialists from Delhi and Lucknow, in the last one week. So far, medical teams have collected samples of 106 pregnant women and sent them for zika tests.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has also issued directives to health officials to increase focus on infectious disease control.

“The health department must ensure strict surveillance to check the spread of the zika virus and should undertake frequent and extensive door-to-door sanitisation and fogging drives to stop breeding of mosquitoes,” a state government spokesperson said, quoting the chief minister’s instructions to the officials.

At present, Kanpur has reported 11 active cases of the zika virus disease, including a pregnant woman, who is being monitored round the clock, a senior health official said.

According to health experts, the zika virus causes microcephaly and Guillain-Barré (GB) syndrome in pregnant women. Microcephaly is a birth defect, affecting the growth of baby’s head in the womb.

Mishra said studies have shown that 5 to 14% of pregnant women infected with zika virus give birth to children with signs of the congenital zika syndrome, affecting brain development and vision in the newborn.

GB syndrome is an uncommon illness of the nervous system, in which a person’s own immune system damages the nerve cells, causing muscle weakness and sometimes leads to paralysis.

“Several countries that zika virus infections have reported an increase in the number of people with GB syndrome,” Mishra said.

Experts, meanwhile, were also discussing whether the zika virus was prevalent in Kanpur for long.

“Virus may have been here in Kanpur for long and (cases) have only come to light now,” Dr GK Mishra said, adding that the notion gets strength as the patients testing positive for the virus now are largely asymptomatic.

Meanwhile, malaria control teams are carrying out a comprehensive campaign to destroy mosquito-breeding points in a 3-km radius of Kanpur’s Chakeri area.

The 3-km radius of the place where the first case was reported has been divided into clusters, with each being combed by the health teams with a clear brief to trace pregnant women, test and monitor them along with the patients of fever, said Kanpur district magistrate Vishakh G Iyer.

“Zika is a mosquito-borne virus and is caused by the same mosquito that causes dengue. Hence, if prevention and surveillance methods of dengue are followed strictly or intensified, zika can also be controlled,” said Dr Sheetal Verma, senior faculty at the department of microbiology at King George’s Medical University in Lucknow.

In Lucknow, over 4,000 staff members are conducting surveillance.

The first case of the zika virus in Kanpur was confirmed on October 23. An Indian Air Force (IAF) warrant officer suffering from fever was admitted in the Air Force hospital where the doctors decided to go for further tests. His samples were sent to SGPGIMS (Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences) in Lucknow, where it was confirmed that he was infected with the zika virus.

Thereafter, two more IAF personnel and seven others tested positive for the zika virus.

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

In normal course, the symptoms of the zika virus disease are mild and include fever, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain and rashes.

The health department has sent two batches of mosquito samples from Kanpur to the National Institute of Malaria Research (NIMR) for a genetic study in the past one week. These mosquitoes were caught inside the IAF station in Kanpur and other localities from where the Zika virus cases have been reported.

The state health department on Monday also issued an advisory for people and hospitals in Lucknow for prevention, identification and treatment of zika virus cases.

“The prevention of zika virus cases shall be done via regular vector surveillance and integrated management, surveillance and elimination of sources of mosquito breeding,” said Dr Manoj Agrawal, chief medical officer of Lucknow.

Fish that eat mosquito larvae should be put in places where breeding is spotted, said the advisory for the medical staff.

“For people, the best way to stay safe is to avoid mosquito bite. Though Zika virus case has not yet been detected in Lucknow or any other district apart from Kanpur, it is advisable to stay safe,” said Dr Abhishek Shukla, secretary general, Association of International Doctors.

On Monday, Lucknow reported 34 fresh dengue cases from different areas, including Chinhat, Malihabad, Indira Nagar, Alambagh, Kakori and Aliganj. Notices were served on owners of 12 houses after health teams spotted stagnant water on their premises.

The microbiology department of the Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Memorial (GSVM) Medical College in Kanpur has issued an alert, fearing a rise in zika cases disease and dengue in November.

“The climatic condition and temperature areconducive,” said Vikas Mishra, associate professor of microbiology at the medical college.

“Everyone needs to be in a state of high alert, the Aedes mosquito can speed up the circulation of the Zika virus,” he said.