Suspected Chandipura Infection In Gujarat Claims 4 Children: What Is This Virus?

Unconfirmed sources reported the death of four children due to suspected Chandipura infection in Gujarat. Is this virus back after 14 years?

Chandipura virus in Gujarat: Unconfirmed sources claim the death of four children due to a suspected casee of Chandipura virus infection in the state of Gujarat. Two more children are also suspected of suffering from this virus and they are currently under treatment at the civil hospital at Himmatnagar in the district, as per media reports. The officials have sent the blood samples of all six children to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune. The Chief District Health Officer said to media that the result of the tests and confirmation are awaited.

According to sources, the four children's death was recorded on the 10th of July and health officials had suspected that it could be Chandipura virus. After two more cases were admitted to the hospital with similar symptoms, the blood samples were sent to NIV. The district authorities have already deployed multiple teams to start the preventive measures of killing sandflies and other vectors in the affected areas, as per reports. As part of precautionary measures, the teams have been advised to control mosquitoes, sprinkle medicinal powders, create awareness among civilians and conduct surveillance of the suspected cases. These are to be carried out across a 3-km radius of the affected areas.

What Is Chandipura Virus: All You Need To Know

Chandipura virus is very similar to flu and acute encephalitis (encephalitis is the inflammation of the brain). Its main symptoms are fever. It is caused by a pathogen from the Vesiculovirus genus of the family Rhabdoviridae. The transmission of this disease occurs through ticks, mosquitoes and sandflies. According to study reports by Journal Science Daily: