Three more cases of suspected Chandipura virus surface from Panchmahal

VADODARA: Three more patients of suspected Chandipura virus from Ghoghamba taluka of Panchmahal district have been admitted to Sir Sayajirao General Hospital (SSGH) in the city. While one patient was brought on Friday evening, two others were admitted on Saturday.
Two patients are in a critical condition while the third one has been admitted on precautionary grounds.Parul Rathwa, 3, was brought to SSGH on Friday evening with encephalitis. She was given the supportive treatment and has been responding to it. Her sister Hansa Rathwa, 5, has been admitted for precautionary measures since she also had high fever when the family arrived at SSGH to admit Parul.
Seven-year-old Sanjay Rathwa was admitted at SSGH on Saturday afternoon with similar symptoms of encephalitis, including reduced consciousness and high fever.
"Parul and Sanjay were referred to us by the Community Health Centre (CHC) at Ghoghamba. We advised Hansa's parents to admit her also because of the increasing cases of viral encephalitis," said Dr Sheila Aiyer, who has been monitoring the cases of encephalitis at SSGH's department of pediatrics.
With these cases, the number of suspected Chandipura patients from Navanagar village of Ghoghamba taluka has touched six, including a brother-sister duo whose blood samples were sent to National Institute of Virology (NIV) at Pune on Friday.
"Though it is not certain that this is Chandipura virus, we are approaching the situation as a possible outbreak since six cases have been reported from the same area," said Dr Amarnath Verma, district health officer at Panchmahal.
"Surveillance of all the villages has been increased and health centers have been directed to report any case of fever immediately," he said.
So far, 16 cases of suspected Chandipura virus have been reported from Panchmahal, Dahod, Vadodara and Mahisagar districts. Eight children, all below the age of 10, have died due to the suspected outbreak of the virus in Central Gujarat.