Gandhinagar: Gujarat’s health department is on high alert as a Chandipura virus (CHPV) outbreak has now infected 35 children and killed 22, Health Minister Praful Pansheriya said.
Of 184 suspected cases reported across multiple districts all involving children under 15 35 have tested positive. Results for 11 more suspected cases are still pending.
Seven of the confirmed patients are currently being treated at civil hospitals in Gandhinagar, Sabarkantha-Himatnagar, Patan, Rajkot and Bhavnagar. Six others have recovered and gone home.
What the health department is doing
Ground teams have fanned out across affected districts as part of the state’s containment plan. Officials are telling residents to seal cracks in mud walls a common breeding spot for the sandflies that spread the virus while insecticide crews spray cattle-rearing areas nearby.
Public and private children’s hospitals have been told to move symptomatic kids straight into ICUs with oxygen and ventilator support on hand, since the disease can progress to organ failure fast.
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Where the virus comes from
Chandipura vesiculovirus gets its name from the Maharashtra village where it was first identified, in 1965. It’s an RNA virus in the Vesiculovirus genus, part of the Rhabdoviridae family, and it causes fever, flu-like symptoms, and in serious cases encephalitis, or swelling of the brain.
Mosquitoes, ticks and sandflies can all carry it, though sandflies are considered the main culprits. They tend to breed in the same cracked mud and sand walls the health department is now asking people to seal up. Children between nine months and 14 years old face the highest risk.
A doctor’s take on symptoms
Dr. Neha Khan, an infectious disease consultant based in Patna, told Media that children are especially vulnerable and that the danger climbs during the monsoon. No vaccine exists yet to prevent infection.
“This virus initially causes fever, vomiting, loose motion, and other viral-like symptoms, but in addition, it also causes swelling in the brain called encephalitis, leading to convulsions, altered sensorium, delusion, unconsciousness episodes and seizures,” Dr. Khan said, adding that all of these stem from the virus reaching the brain. She also noted one piece of reassurance amid the outbreak: Chandipura virus doesn’t spread person to person. It isn’t contagious.