Now, chikungunya rears its head

It’s the season for mosquito-borne illnesses. After malaria and dengue, yet another mosquito-borne viral illness, chikungunya, has reared its head, much to the dismay of overburdened doctors and patients in the city.

“There has been a sudden spurt in dengue and chikungunya cases,” said Dr Om Shrivastav, consultant on infectious diseases, Jaslok Hospital, and unit head at Kasturba. 

According to doctors, what is worrying is that the infection may go unrecognised or be misdiagnosed as dengue. This is because chikungunya symptoms, like chills, joint pain, body ache, etc, are quite similar to the ones for dengue.

Incidentally, chikungunya cases are usually seen in rural areas, particularly on the Maharashtra-Karnataka border, and not in urban areas. “Till two years ago, general physicians never suspected the presence of chikungunya in Mumbai,” said Dr Hemant Gupta, associate professor of medicine, JJ Hospital.

This is what happened with Tardeo-resident Harish Gowda, 34, who was initially admitted to a nursing home for dengue, but later diagnosed with chikungunya.

According to Gowda, Tardeo has seen at least six more cases of the disease.

With over 4,612 malaria and 197 dengue cases reported in August alone, tackling mosquito-borne diseases remains a top priority for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
According to doctors, however, the presence of chikungunya is not alarming.