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Chikungunya Make a Comeback in Kolkata

by VR Sreeraman on Feb 25 2007 3:10 PM

A man from a south Kolkata neighbourhood tested positive for the chikungunya virus earlier this week. However the patient ceased to show symptoms of the disease after a few days, according to official sources Saturday.

Shakil Khan, a resident of Prince Ghulam Mohammad Shah Road in the Lake Gardens area had visited the out patients' department at the Bhagirathi Neotia Women and Child Care Centre on Feb 19 complaining of fever and joint pain. The hospital had collected a blood sample and sent it to a private laboratory where it tested positive for chikungunya.

The director of health services in West Bengal has asked the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) to take necessary action since chikungunya was reported in the state after a gap of 42 years.

KMC will collect blood from Shakil Khan again and send it for tests at the School of Tropical Medicine (STM) here.

KMC sources, however, said the health officials who visited Khan's home have found Shakil had no fever or pain now.

"The initial test was positive but more tests are required for confirmation. And even if the (confirmatory) tests are positive, it will be considered an old case," S.N. Dutta, joint director, public health, told reporters.

No other chikungunya case has been reported so far here.

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Chikungunya is a viral infection spread through the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

Source-IANS
SRM


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