Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) Professor of Medicine Dr Iftikhar Ahmed said Saturday that mosquito is still world’s biggest killer of humans and also a global challenge for healthcare authorities.
Talking to the news agency, Prof Iftikhar said chikungunya is a viral disease, which is transmitted to humans by infected female mosquitoes, including Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. He said chikungunya belongs to a virus family that also includes dengue and Zika virus. He said stagnant water reservoirs are the main breeding points of mosquitoes which cause chikungunya.
He said Chikungunya virus does not spread from person to person interaction; however, if a mosquito bites an infected person, it will transmit the virus to uninfected persons.
He said the symptoms of chikungunya virus appear between 3-12 days after the patient is bitten by an infected mosquito.
He said common symptoms of the virus are high-grade fever, severe body pain, red rashes and joint pain.
He advised the people to avoid unnecessary medicines and take drugs with the prescription of qualified doctors.
He said there was no vaccine available to save people from chikungunya virus; therefore, preventive measures should be taken to save citizens from the viral disease.
Infection Control Society Pakistan President Prof Dr Rafiq Khanani, while talking to the news agency, said chikungunya virus first spread in Tanzania in 1952.
He dispelled the misconception that the viral disease spreads due to eating chicken meat.
He informed that chikungunya virus cases have been rapidly increased in West Africa, Central Africa, South and Central America after 1970.
According to scientists, he said, chikungunya virus spreads due to poor cleanliness, radioactivity, eating uncooked or poorly cooked meat as eating uncooked meat also causes diseases and lowers immunity.
Dr Khanani explained that chikungunya epidemic spread in Indian Ocean Island ‘Reunion’ in 2006 and 25 per cent of the population was affected due to poor immunity system.
He informed a lot of people, including elderly people, women, and children fell ill due to chikungunya in the Maharashtra state of India in 2006-7; later, the disease spread to other parts of India.
In Pakistan, he said, chikungunya virus cases were first reported in 2011 when dengue cases were on the peak in the country.
He informed that this time the virus epidemic was seen in Malir, Saudabad and adjoining areas. He said elderly people and persons with chronic medical conditions are the high-risk groups. He said the risk of death is around two in 1,000 patients.
He said improper management of the virus can lead a patient toward death; thus, patients should be treated effectively.
He said female mosquitoes cannot survive the winter, and there are 95 per cent chances of eliminating the virus if the full winter season begins in the city.
He said elimination of mosquitoes is still the biggest challenge to world health authorities; therefore, patient protection is the key to minimising deaths from the mosquito-borne diseases.