CHIKUNGUNYA Virus (CHIKV)

In the last week of September, my father suffered some kind of illness that we don’t really know the cause.  We took him to the clinic because he had rashes all over his body, flu-like symptoms, severe joint pains, headache, and fatigue. After some series of tests, the doctor found nothing.  Yep, everything is very normal. The doctor just told him to get some rest and take some of the medicines that were given to him. And that worries me a lot.

As a medical transcriptionist, I got to know what could have caused my father’s illness. I searched the web for answers and this is what I found.

• Chikungunya is a viral disease that is spread by mosquitoes. It causes fever and severe joint pain. Other symptoms include muscle pain, headache, nausea, fatigue and rash.
• The disease shares some clinical signs with dengue, and can be misdiagnosed in areas where dengue is common.
• There is no cure for the disease. Treatment is focused on relieving the symptoms.
• The proximity of mosquito breeding sites to human habitation is a significant risk factor for Chikungunya.
• The disease occurs in Africa, Asia and the Indian subcontinent. In recent decades mosquito vectors of Chikungunya have spread to Europe and the Americas. In 2007, disease transmission was reported for the first time in Europe, in a localized outbreak in north-eastern Italy.

The proximity of mosquito vector breeding sites to human habitation is a significant risk factor for Chikungunya as well as for other diseases that these species transmit. Prevention and control relies heavily on reducing the number of natural and artificial water-filled container habitats that support breeding of the mosquitoes. This requires mobilization of affected communities. During outbreaks, insecticides may be sprayed to kill flying mosquitoes, applied to surfaces in and around containers where the mosquitoes land, and used to treat water in containers to kill the immature larvae.

Diet that help in Chikungunya Prevention include:

• Foods with an increased level of fluids such as soups, dals, gravies, barley and similar semi-liquid diet.
• Leafy vegetables as they are easily digestible while non-vegetarian food is avoidable.
• Fruits like Apples and plantains are good but cold fruits such as oranges, watermelons must be avoided.
• Food that is rich in chromium, selenium, and zinc, i.e. has vitamins A, C, and E.
• Oranges, sweet lime, amla, capsicum, pineapple, broccoli, cabbage, guavas and papaya are rich in vitamin C.
• Vitamin A rich foods are all those fruits and vegetables that are yellow or orange in color.
• If the fever does not come down, then oily food, coffee and Tea must be avoided.
• Make a concoction from herbs such as tulsi, amrutharista, mahasudarshana churna, sudarshan churnam, amruthotharam kashayam and gutika to lessen the severity of Chikungunya complications.

Foods rich in chromium, zinc and selenium that have vitamins A, C and E are natural anti oxidants. They help to fight the free radicals of the body. Take them as supplements or in their natural form. The fruits and vegetables mentioned above, rich in vitamin C and A are the natural sources. The best way to escape from contracting this disease is to protect yourself from mosquito bites. Since that is not practicable all the times, you can consider some helpful diet for preventing Chikungunya.

 

If you have Chikungunya, you must boost your immune system because at this point there is still no cure or vaccine for this virus.

"HEALTH IS WEALTH." 

 The above health tips is brought to you by Ronnel Rosano, who enjoys helping people achieve excellent health. Click here to get to know Ronnel Rosano  better. Thanks!