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Chikungunya has taken India by a storm, emerging as an extremely rapid & intriguing epidemic, leaving the medical fraternity helpless & in utter disarray. Having shown it's presence more than 10'months ago in the country, it took nearly a couple of months for it to be diagnosed & understood. Currently it's spread into many districts of Karnataka, Tamilnadu, Andhra pradesh and Maharashtra, affecting thousands of people each day. The latest, it has spred like wildfire in Gujarat, with more than one and a half lakh people afflicted..
Where modern medicine has so far no vaccine or specific antiviral treatment, Homeopathy has come as a beacon of hope, both as a preventive & curative for Chikungunya. It would be interesting to note that the Govt. of Andhra Pradesh has taken the initiative to immunize lakhs of people with the Homeopathy [earlier they had done so on a massive scale during the epidemic of Brain fever - viral encephalitis].
The term 'Chikungunya' is Swahili for 'that which bends up'. The geographic range of the virus is East Africa, Southeast Asia and in the Indian sub-continent. CHIKV [Chikungunya virus] was first isolated from the blood of a febrile patient in Tanzania in 1953, and has since been identified repeatedly. Confusion was created as the infection came simultaneously with bird flu in India & was falsely called as Chickengunya though it had no correlation with chickens
What is Chikungunya fever?
It is very important to clear this strong misconception that Chikungunya is airborne [or waterborne] & that it spreads by just being in the vicinity of an afflicted person. It is a viral disease transmitted to humans only by the bite of infected mosquito (Aedes Aepypti-the yellow fever mosquito) a member of the genus Alpha virus, in the family Togaviridae. This mosquito breeds in fresh water. The incubation period (time from infection to illness) can be 2-12 days, but is usually 3-7 days.
Symptoms of Chikungunya:
CHIKV infection can cause a debilitating illness, most often characterized by
- Fever 39C, (102.2 F) with joint pain
- swelling of joints
- Headache
- Fatigue
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Muscle pain
- Rash
Groups at higher risk:
- Pregnant women
- People with weakened immune systems
- People suffering from severe chronic illness (such as heart, lung or kidney disease and diabetes)
Chikungunya Prevention:
- Get rid of mosquito breeding sites by emptying standing water from flower pots, buckets and barrels.
- Change the water in pet dishes and replace the water in bird baths weekly
- Use insect repellent.
- Wear long sleeves.
- Have secure screens on windows and doors to keep mosquitoes out.
- Additionally, a person with Chikungunya fever should limit their exposure to mosquito bites in order to avoid further spreading the infection. The person should stay indoors or under a mosquito net.
The HOMEOPATHIC - HELP
The past few month Homeopathic Physicians all over the country have been immunising & treating innumerable people with a great degree of success. The medicines build up the immunity, strengthening the body's own defences to fight the virus.
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