About Chikungunya
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Chikungunya is a virus
which is spread by a mosquito known as the “Aedes Aegypti”.
Chikungunya is also known in Mauritius as “chik” or “chikun”.
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The first epidemic of chikungunya was discovered in
Africa, Tanzania, in 1952. In Mauritius it was a
real problem and a lot of people were infected
during 2005 and 2006. Chikungunya is a virus found especially in warm and tropical
countries and mainly during summer season.
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Chikungunya
transmission |
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· The
mosquito is usually a day-bitter mosquito which has the
virus of chikungunya in itself and when you are bitten from
one of them you will be infected by the disease of
chikungunya. Usually the virus of chikungunya is transmitted
to human beings by the mosquito during day time. When the
Aedes Aegypti mosquito bites a person infected of
chikungunya, it gets infected itself and when it bites
another person who is in good health, the person will be
also infected with the virus.
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Human to human
transmission
· Until
now the transmission of chikungunya can not be made from
human to human, so it is not considered as a contagious
virus.
Symptoms of
Chikungunya
·
If a person has been bitten
by a mosquito that was infected by the chikungunya virus,
the symptoms usually appears after four to seven days after
having been bitten by an infected mosquito. The symptoms a
person start getting is high fever which can reach 39°C,
headache, joint pains, insomnia, muscular pains, swelling
and skin manifestations. The fever generally last around two
to three days and then comes down. There are some persons
who feel themselves very weak, they even can not move from
the bed or feed themselves. So if you are having all these
symptoms you better go to a doctor to make a blood test.
Chikungunya treatment
·
Until now there has been no
specific treatment or vaccination found against the
chikungunya virus.
The only treatment which is given to the patients is
medicine as anti-inflammatory drugs against fever and pain.
Prevent chikungunya
·
There are some precautions that can be
taken to control the proliferation of the Aedes Aegypti
mosquito as avoiding water retention in different areas as
on ceiling and house roofs, always check water pipes that
they are not clogged, always cover water tanks not to let
mosquito enter inside, not forget to renew the water in the
flower vases once to twice a week, throwing away all
recipients that may retain water unnecessarily as food cans,
old vehicles tyres and garbage. Some precautions that can be
taken for persons are: use repellent creams for your body
use sprays and coils at home, use mosquito nets for
protection and try wear clothing that cover arms and legs.
