Kasinagar(Gajapati)i(16.06.2007):

The dreaded 'Chickenguniya' is again making forays into Gajapati with the onset of monsoon. Last year it was exactly in the month of May this dreaded viral infection had penetrated into the state from Andhra Pradesh through Gajapati, and a reluctant health department and subsequently the administration in Gajapati had refused to accept that there was a disease such as 'Chickenguniya' . "There is no such terminology as 'Chickenguniya' in the medical terminology , and it is only a false hue and cry" the then CDMO Dr Karuna Kar Das had said. But when the same disease spread out to other parts of Orissa and there was a hue and cry even in the assembly the Health Department woke up, but by then it was too late. The dreaded disease which is symptomatic with fever and unbearable joints pain and has also rendered many incapacitated even today is resurfacing and unless the administration wakes up the reality could be beyond control. Intermittent rains before and after monsoon leads to a big increase in mosquito numbers in all the blocks of Gajapati. The logging of water leads to the prolific development of the eggs and larvae of the Aedes mosquito(the carrier of this infection) which needs only a small amount of water to hybrid on .The mosquitoes fly around even in daytime and its bite can lead to 'chickenguniya'. The worst part is there is no effective cure or vaccine , and all treatment is only symptomatic . In Gajapati not less than 1500 cases were reported last year and the number could have been more if data on the patients had been maintained . The state government last year had declared its intention to fight this disease and already there are reports that the viral is rampant in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh . "The administration has to create an awareness and all patients with symptoms of 'chickenguniya' should come to a qualified doctor instead of depending on quacks or irrational treatment .If simple antibiotics are given to the patients in the right dose at the initiall stage the disease can be controlled" says retired Medicine Specialist Dr P Ch Rath who had treated hundreds of such cases last year . On the part of the administration it is important to take stock of the situation on war footing instead of only discussing the same only in meeting halls . Dedicated spraying of DDT especially in the remote villages where there are forest cover can lead to the killing of the larvae. "The loopholes are the unsystematic and irrational DDT spraying which is not seriously taken into consideration .The same is done by unprofessional agencies who fail to cover all the areas mainly forest zones where there are more possibilities of the Aedes mosquitoes laying their eggs" said one Chairman of a reputed NGO .In the urban areas the piling of garbage in open space and the use of plastic and polythene ,uncovered water spaces ,abandoned tyres and coconut shells where water is stored during monsoon are the hazards that needs to be addressed . Last year in the Paralakhemundi Municipality and the Kasinagar NAC there were more than 450 reported cases of 'chickenguniya' . On the treatment front the administration has a major social responsibility of providing medicines especially antibiotics and painkillers in injection forms to the poor patients who cannot afford the same . "We are ready and our mobile teams are active in all blocks keeping a track of any such symptoms .We have provided ambulances in all the blocks for the patients who can be rushed in to Paralakhemundi in case of emergency .DDT spraying is also going on successfully" said the CDMO Dr B M Mohapatra .But the confidence of the Health Department can be misplaced as they had last year expressed similar optimism of controlling 'chickenguniya' and had failed to meet the challenge . It was only after two doctors, a few officers and a senior politician fell prey to the dreaded viral infection the administration woke up and it was too late by then .The Aedes mosquitoes had spread not only out of control but out of their reach also .