he spread of chikungunya continued to cause serious concern in many parts of Kerala with the toll mounting to 71 with 6 more deaths reported from the worst affected Alappuzha on Wednesday.
The government claimed there were no deaths due to chikungunya, a rare form of viral fever, in the country. "There are no deaths in the country due to chikungunya. People don't die of the virus. Those who are dying are succumbing to secondary complications," Health and Family Welfare Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said.
Experts from the World Health Organisation and India's National Institutes of Communicable Diseases arrived in Kerala on Thursday to tackle the rising number of deaths due to chikungunya that has gripped the state's Alappuzha district.
A 19-year-old college student died of dengue at a suburban Mumbai hospital, the first fatal case in the metropolis since the outbreak across the country, a hospital official said on Thursday. As many as 2,900 cases of dengue have been reported in the country, with the maximum 673 from the national capital alone, and 38 people have died due to the disease, Ramadoss said on Thursday.
The government on Friday described the spread of chikungunya in Kerala as an "epidemic outbreak" and underlined the need for preventive measures to contain the disease, which has claimed 81 lives so far in the state.
Image: Suspected dengue patients receive treatment in a dengue screening ward at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi on October 4.
Photograph: Manpreet Romana/AFP/Getty Images
Also Read:
9 dengue cases in AP, no deaths
Facts about dengue
FAQ: Is chikungunya fatal?
Advertisement
