Chandipura Virus: Here's What Doctors Say About Deadly Infection

The number of people affected by the deadly Chandipura virus is increasing day by day. According to the reports, 15 people have lost their lives so far, due to the Chandipura virus aka CHPV. Till Wednesday 29 active cases were registered and mass testing is underway. Doctors are trying their best to provide special attention to people having symptoms like high fever, yellow fever, diarrhoea, vomiting, headache, cramps, and brain.

It has been observed that the Chandipura virus is mainly found in the cracks of raw houses made up of cow dung. Scientifically it belongs to the Rhabdoviridae family, along with mix of Lyssavirus, which causes rabies.

This virus lives in the salivary glands of insects like Phlebotomine and Phlebotomus papatasi and some mosquito species such as Aedes aegypti. The virus can enter a human body, if these mosquitos bite a human, or mosquitos bite a dog and dog bites a human.

Here's What Doctors Said:

A senior paediatrician in Gujarat, Dr Rajesh Jeswani was quoted by Indian Express saying: "A lot of kutcha houses also use cow dung paint or maybe making cow-dung cakes, which in turn attracts sandflies. Additionally, the outbreaks are more pronounced because sandflies multiply more during the monsoon season."

Another senior paediatric surgeon and medical superintendent at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, Dr Rakesh Joshi, said most of the cases have been reported from rural, tribal and peripheral areas. In these areas, sandflies can be commonly found, which are the main cause of the disease.

Dr Sandipkumar Trivedi, former executive board member of the Indian Association of Pediatrics, noted some changes in pattern of the virus, for both in the disease manifestation as well as the vector.

"Sandflies usually do not fly at a height more than 3 feet from the ground but this time during surveillance, sandflies have been found on terraces and higher heights. Additionally, of the six suspected deaths so far, two presented with brain haemorrhages, which is a new presentation. We are also seeing new outbreak centres, for example in Gujarat, cases are also suspected in other tribal areas such as Pavagadh, Khedbrahma and Godhra," Dr Trivedi said.