Chikungunya epidemic spreading rapidly

Friday, January 12th, 2007

The Chikungunya epidemic is spreading rapidly in Malé and other islands. A spokesperson for the Department of Public Health (DPH) has told Miadhu that so far the disease has been reported from 77 islands covering all atolls in the archipelago. From the official beginning of the suspected epidemic on December 1, a cumulative total of 5119 cases have been reported, says the spokesperson, adding that the figure corresponds to about 2.6 % of the total population of the country.
The spokesperson also says that there are no signs yet that the epidemic has peaked. From December 1, there has been a steadily rising trend in the daily totals of reported cases, from 36 cases per day at the beginning of the epidemic to 227 cases per day at the end of last week.
According to DPH, the epidemic was first reported from Malé, Raa and Meemu atolls. While there are some signs that the epidemic is abating in these atolls, it is yet to be fully controlled even there.
While the country is reeling under the epidemic, IGMH and ADK Hospitals continue to be full. Many patients find it difficult to get a room or even a general ward bed. Some patients have been admitted to the ICU with serious complications.
“I have admitted my father to the hospital with this epidemic. It’s now more than ten days. His condition is serious and deteriorating. There is no improvement. There are many people with chikungunya in the hospital. There are no beds or rooms in the hospital,” Mohamed Izzath, a young man from one of the atolls, said. Izzath said he noticed that it is mostly the elderly who suffer seriously from the disease.
Chikungunya has probably been in the country for about four months. However, it was officially suspected only at the beginning of December. Following this, blood samples were sent to a reference laboratory in Pune, India, for laboratory confirmation. Finally, the Chikungunya epidemic was officially declared on December 24th.
Chikungunya is a viral disease spread by the bite of mosquitoes belonging to the Aedes family, the same vector that spreads dengue, another epidemic that is endemic here and currently exhibiting higher than normal activity.
Following the official declaration of the epidemic a multisectoral taskforce has been formed on 25 December to control chikungunya and other vector borne diseases.

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