Lone case of Zika virus in Maharashtra, experts advocate caution

The government has rushed a team of health officials to Belsar village in Pune rural after a woman tested positive for Zika virus The case comes at a time when the fear of a third Covid wave is looming large Due to similarities in symptoms in both diseases experts said there is a need to check the spread of the Aedes mosquito to control Zika and speed up vaccination to lessen the impact of Coronavirus in futureHighly placed officials said that the National Institute of Virology Pune had received blood samples from Belsar following a spurt in fever cases While three tested positive for dengue one sample was found to have Zika A team led by Dr Pradeep Awate head of Epidemiology of state public health department visited the village and even spoke to the 50yearold patient who did not have any symptomsldquoThe Quick Response Team of the state health department met with local public health staff We are on alert and do not want people to get worried This is the first case reported in Maharashtra but we are not taking anything lightly Kerala had confirmed cases of Zika in the last few monthsrdquo said a health officialAlso read Maharashtra reports its first Zika virus case in PuneDr Subhash Hira Professor of Global Health at the University of WashingtonSeattleDr Santosh Bansode HoD of Emergency Medicines at Wockhardt Hospitals Mumbai Central said ldquoZika virus spreads through mosquitoes If anyone is found to have Zika we must protect that person from getting mosquito bites so that the disease wonrsquot spread to others As such there is no definitive treatment for Zika Serious cases needing hospital admission are rare but the spread of the virus should be contained by keeping the environment mosquitofreerdquo Aedes mosquitoes breed in stagnant clear water The use of mosquito repellents should also be encouraged he saidThe expert said doctors should screen patients for Zika in case of a sudden rise in fever in a particular area To tackle the fastspreading Delta variant Dr Bansode said the thrust should be on masks sanitisers and social distancingDr Bansode added ldquoNow we know about Zika and the Delta variant of Covid beforehand and must keep ourselves one step ahead by taking precautions and spreading awareness among the general population Doctors also should be more alert in the screening of patients for these two types of viruses We should educate all our fever patients about these two viruses and once infected by them or once you get a fever what all care should be taken to contain the spread of the diseaserdquoZika originated from Brazil in 2007 and it causes high fever bleeding under the skin causing dark patches and severe painful joint swellings said Dr Subhash Hira Professor of Global Health at the University of WashingtonSeattle ldquoZika was later shown to cause microcephalymdashsmall skulls in a newborn from a Zikainfected mother The culprit for its spread is the female Aedes aegypti mosquito that bites during early mornings and early eveningsrdquo He said the same mosquito also transmits dengue chikungunya and yellow fever ldquoAll these four viral diseases manifest with similar presenting features such as fever joint swellings and skin patches The worst time of recurrence of these infections is when Covid19 is ravaging throughout the world and Covid itself manifests with similar features Such overlap of symptoms between the five diseases causes difficulty in diagnosis However all these viral diseases do not have any specific treatment and patients are managed symptomaticallyrdquo he saidDr Fazal Nabi Director of Paediatrics Jaslok HospitalldquoZika can be transmitted from the mother to the foetus causing severe congenital malformations such as microcephaly In adults it can cause serious neurological complicationsrdquo said Dr Ketan Vagholkar Professor of Surgery at D Y Patil Medical CollegeHe said that in any febrile illness one needs to first rule out Covid through the RTPCR test ldquoCitizens are advised to contact their physician immediately if they experience any febrile episode no matter how mild it may berdquo said Dr VagholkarPaediatric expert viewDr Fazal Nabi Director of Paediatrics at Jaslok Hospital said that unlike Covid Zika is selflimiting and most patients are asymptomatic though there is a threat to the foetus during early trimester pregnancyldquoWe can diagnose it by doing Zika virus RTPCR blood test and antibody titres and vaccines are not available Patients need only symptomatic and supportive care Prevention is to avoid mosquito bites using repellents and nets and avoid mosquito breeding areasrdquo said Dr NabiWith more than 55 per cent of Mumbairsquos population showing antibodies Dr Nabi said ldquoIn future we are likely to see shorter and milder clinical presentations of Covid cases due to building up of immunogenicity in a large group of the population To overcome and to fight with the future Covid waves we have to vaccinate all including childrenrdquoBrazilWhere Zika originated from