Doctors play down chikungunya even as 22 test positive in Mumbai

Doctors insist chikungunya is not as big a concern as malaria, but as many as 22 people have tested positive for chikungunya this monsoon and admitted in hospitals across the city.

The number of people going in for tests has risen to around 150 from last year’s 30-odd cases, showing that anxiety over the disease is rising.

“The symptoms seem similar to those of chikungunya, but tests are negative. The best part is that the virus strain has become milder. Unlike malaria, which saw a variation in the virus and a jump in cases, chikungunya virus has seen no variations,” said Dr Arun Shah, consulting physician and nephrologist, Lilavati Hospital & Research Centre.

He added, “Earlier, a classic chikungunya patient took more than six weeks to recover, but now a patient recovers in five to seven days.”

While private clinics are flooded with patients exhibiting symptoms of chikungunya-like fever, diagnostic laboratories are processing almost 150-200 samples suspected of chikungunya daily.

However, the BMC does not want to take any chance. Manisha Mhaiskar, additional municipal commissioner said: “While most cases are from Goregaon and Kurla, the rest have been stray cases. We are therefore concentrating on these areas. We are already doing vector control. For testing chikungunya, we plan to open two centres — one each in the eastern and western suburbs.”