India has reported 53 cases of the Chandipura virus so far in 2024, Union Minister of Health JP Nadda told Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. Of the total, 19 patients died due to the virus.
All the patients were under the age of 17, Nadda said in a written response to a question by Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi.
The minister said that Gujarat reported 51 cases of the virus and two cases were detected in Rajasthan. All deaths were reported from Gujarat.
The virus, also known as Chandipura Viral Encephalitis, is transmitted primarily by sandflies and mosquitoes, including the Aedes aegypti species that bite during the day and are also known to spread dengue. The infection can lead to encephalitis, or the inflammation of the active tissues of the brain.
Children under the age of 15 years are most susceptible to the virus. Symptoms include fever, vomiting, altered sensorium, convulsions, diarrhoea, neurological deficit and meningeal irritation.
On Tuesday, data shared by the minister showed that eight patients who died were between the ages of one and five. At 27, this age group also had the highest number of patients who contracted the virus.
Seven patients who died were between the ages of six and ten, three patients belonged to the 11 to 16 age group, while one patient was less than a year old.
The Centre has intensified Indoor Residual Spraying for control of sandflies in the areas where cases have been reported, said Nadda.
The minister said that a National Joint Outbreak Response Team has also been deployed to assist the Gujarat government in undertaking public health measures and for detailed epidemiological investigation into the outbreak.
The team also includes experts from the Integrated Disease Surveillance Program, the National Centre for Disease Control, the Indian Council of Medical Research and the National Institute of Virology Pune.
Entomologists from the National Centre for Disease Control are stationed at the areas where the virus has been reported. They are carrying out entomological investigation and ascertaining the vector involved in transmission of the virus.
Health rapid response teams, Accredited Social Health Activists or ASHA workers, auxiliary nurses and midwives have been conducting active surveillance for early identification of cases and timely referral of suspected cases to the nearby hospitals offering 24-hour specialist services and ventilator support, Nadda said.
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