BY A GT REPORTER
PANJIM: The Directorate of Health Services (DHS), which is seized with the large number of cases of a 'mysterious fever' reported in villages of Sanguem, suspect it to be Chikungunya.
Dr Ravindra Nadkarni, CMO of non-communicable diseases said: “We cannot commit about it right now as we have to get the reports first. But it looks like Chickungunya. It is transmitted by 'anal' mosquitoes and the affected villages have conducive breeding cites for these mosquitoes.”
He said, a major breeding place was a stagnant water tank at Mascavrem, he added.
The DHS has sent around 16 slides to the Microbiology Department of GMC yesterday and expect the results in two days.
Dr Nadkarni told GT that this fever was prevalent in the affected areas over the past one month. The patients complain of fever, joint pains and rashes.
The affected villages are Mascavrem, Danolem, Curpem and Nunem of Sanguem taluka. Local health officials there even tested around 40 slides for Malaria but they proved negative.
The worst affected are 40 households at Mascavrem and 16 at Danolem. Blood samples are now being taken of people in Curpem, Nunem Colomb and Kale villages.
“These patients have shown signs of improvement soon after taking medication” added Dr Nadkarni.
He also informed that there is no confirmed patient of Chikungunya in Goa and indicated that the carrier from whom the virus got transmitted could possibly be migrant labour in the mining belt of the area.
“In these mining areas there are some migrant labourers. One of them could have been infected by Chikungunya," Dr Nadkarni opined.
He said there's no reason for panic as Chikungunya is not fatal and is also easily curable.
‘Affected people back to normal’
SANGUEM: Patients in most household affected by the mysterious fever at Mascavrem and Danolem villages are now normal, Dr Benedita Dias, the health officer at the Quepem Health Centre said yesterday, after a field visit to the affected areas.
The exact cause of the disease will be known only after the correct results of the blood tests are received from GMC, Dias said and declined to comment any further on the matter.
Earlier in the morning Dias was part of the DHS team led by Director of Health Services Dr Rajananda Desai that visited Mascovrem, Colomb, Curpem, Vaddem, Cazur, Pirla and nearby villages.
Blood samples of the patients were also taken for testing yesterday.
Meanwhile, Dr Anil Kakodkar, the health officer attached to the Sanguem PHC told GT that not a single case had been reported in Curpem, Vaddem Neturlim and Pirla villages. He said, he had already screened over 50 persons in these areas.
