Chikungunya

                             What is Chikungunya?
Chikungunya is a viral disease can be transmitted to human by mosquitoes and causes significant symptoms, such as arthralgia and fever. It was first described in 1952 when an outbreak in southern Tanzania was observed.

Transmission
Chikungunya is an RNA virus and a member of the alphavirus genus of the Togaviridae family. It has been identified in more than 60 countries worldwide in the continents of Asia, Africa, Europe and America.

Symptoms
Most people infected with chikungunya virus will develop some symptoms.
Symptoms usually begin 3–7 days after being bitten by an infected mosquito.
The most common symptoms are fever and joint pain.
Other symptoms may include headache, muscle pain, joint swelling, or rash.
Chikungunya disease does not often result in death, but the symptoms can be severe and disabling.
Most patients feel better within a week. In some people, the joint pain may persist for months.
People at risk for more severe disease include newborns infected around the time of birth, older adults (≥65 years), and people with medical conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or heart disease.
Once a person has been infected, he or she is likely to be protected from future infections.

Diagnosis
The symptoms of chikungunya are similar to those of dengue and Zika, diseases spread by the same mosquitoes that transmit chikungunya.
See your healthcare provider if you develop the symptoms described above and have visited an area where chikungunya is found.
If you have recently traveled, tell your healthcare provider when and where you traveled.
Your healthcare provider may order blood tests to look for chikungunya or other similar viruses like dengue and Zika.

Treatment
There is no vaccine to prevent or medicine to treat chikungunya virus.
Treat the symptoms:
Get plenty of rest.
Drink fluids to prevent dehydration.
Take medicine such as acetaminophen (Tylenol®) or paracetamol to reduce fever and pain.
Do not take aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS until dengue can be ruled out to reduce the risk of bleeding).
If you are taking medicine for another medical condition, talk to your healthcare provider before taking additional medication.
If you have chikungunya, prevent mosquito bites for the first week of your illness.
During the first week of infection, chikungunya virus can be found in the blood and passed from an infected person to a mosquito through mosquito bites.
An infected mosquito can then spread the virus to other people.

Vaccine for zika

Hyderabad lab makes world's first Zika Virus Vaccine

Bharat Biotech, a city-based vaccines and bio-therapeutic manufacturer, today claimed to have achieved a breakthrough in developing a vaccine to fight the dreaded mosquito-borne Zika virus, which causes serious birth defects in children.

Bharat Biotech is home to some of the most brilliant minds in the world and began work on the Zika virus a year ago, Krishna Ella, CMD Bharat Biotech, said here. "We believe we have an early mover advantage in developing the Zikavac and we are probably the first in the world to file for global patent for Zika vaccine candidates.

"We have two candidate vaccines in development. One of them is an inactivated vaccine that has reached the stage of pre-clinical testing in animals," Ella said. Quoting a WHO report, he said Zika is now present in 23 countries and Brazil, the hardest-hit country, has reported around 3,530 cases of the devastating birth defect, called microcephaly, in 2015 that are strongly suspected to be related to Zika.

"We hope to announce the arrival of Zikavac to the world as early as possible," he said. Zika virus is spread by mosquitoes of the Aedes genus, which can breed in a pool of water as small as a bottle cap and usually bite during the day. The mosquito-transmitted infection is related to Dengue, Yellow Fever and West Nile virus.

"Considering that women of child-bearing age and pregnant women are the prime target group for Zika virus vaccine, we consider safety as the overriding factor in development of a new vaccine for this virus. The vaccine methods developed early on, before the devastating consequences of the epidemics in Brazil came to light provided us a push to accelerate vaccine development," Dr Sumathy, Director, R&D, Bharat Biotech said.

Currently, the vaccine maker is focusing towards scale up and characterization of the vaccine product, Ella further said.

Awareness About Zika Virus

          Awareness About Zika Virus.

A little-known mosquito-borne virus, and affecting children, is causing one of the most alarming health crises to hit South America in decades.

An obscure mosquito-borne virus, Zika, is on the prowl and has already caused an “unprecedent situation” in the world of scientific research. It stems from a huge surge in babies being born with microcephaly, a rare, incurable condition in which their heads are abnormally small. The disease is currently sweeping through Northeastern Brazil, with officials reporting at least 2,782 cases in 2015, as against 147 in 2014 and 167 in 2013. At least 40 infants have died so far.

What is Zika virus?

The virus gets its name from the Zika forest in Uganda, Africa, where it was first identified in rhesus monkeys in 1947. It was reported in humans in 1952 but was unknown in the Americas until last year. The virus is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is also responsible for the spread of dengue and chikungunya. In the last few years, confirmed cases have been reported from Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname and Venezuela.

Why is this outbreak alarming?

The Zika virus was considered benign until recently when scientists, for the first time in November 2015, linked it to a surge in babies born with microcephaly — an incurable birth defect, they are born with abnormally small heads. According to Brazilian authorities, by the end of the year, Zika could infect over 1.5 million people. Further, the disease is spreading fast and experts believe it could spread to other countries in the Southern hemisphere. Puerto Rico reported its first case of Zika on Friday.

Outbreaks have also occurred in parts of Africa, Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. Because the Aedes species mosquitoes that spread Zika virus are found throughout the world, it is likely that outbreaks will spread to new countries.

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States, and the Canadian government have issued travel advisories, warning tourists to protect themselves from mosquito bites. Further, the Brazilian government is advising women to delay pregnancies till the outbreak is under control.

What are the symptoms?

The most common symptoms are fever, rash, joint pain, or conjunctivitis (red eyes). Other symptoms include experiencing muscle pain, headache, pain behind the eyes, and vomiting. The virus causes a painful but temporary rash in adults. The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting for several days to a week but 1 in 5 people infected with the Zika virus become ill.

How is it Zika treated?

There is no medicine as yet to treat Zika. According to the CDC, the condition can be managed and symptoms treated with patients being put on bed rest, increasing fluid intake and having fever medication.