In Pune, 85,000 people live in Zika-affected areas

Pune reported another case of Zika virus infection on Monday, with an 82-year-old man from Dahanuka Colony in Kotrud testing positive for the infection. The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has reported 33 cases so far, with active cases spread across 12 districts of the city. According to PMC officials, 85,992 citizens and 3,795 pregnant women live in areas where Zika transmission is active. So far, 349 people, including 306 pregnant women, have been tested for the virus at the medical center. But experts worry that the number of cases may be low due to insufficient surveillance and testing.

According to officials, the 82-year-old man developed fever-like symptoms on July 15. He was admitted to Shaswat Hospital on July 18 and the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune confirmed on Monday that he had contracted the virus, PMC health officer Kalpana Baliwant said.   

Dr Amitabh Banerjee, epidemiologist and head of Zika community medicine at DY Patel Hospital and DY Patel Medical College Research Centre, said: Subclinical infection. The solution is to remove the vector to prevent disease as egg transfer occurs between mosquitoes.

Zika virus is spread through the bite of infected Aedes mosquitoes, which are known to cause dengue and chikungunya diseases.Most people infected with Zika virus either have no symptoms (up to 80%) or develop fever, rash, conjunctivitis, body aches, and joint pain. 

Medical Assistant PMC.  Dr. Suryakanta Diwakar. “Not only citizens living in active Zika transmission areas, but the entire 9.24 lakh population living in affected areas, all pregnant women and symptomatic patients will be randomly tested.

Reference

Author: MedBlog18 Blog Team

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