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Browsing School of Sciences by Subject "chikungunya virus•epidemiology•high risk groups•outbreak•Pakistan•prevention"

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    Recurrence of chikungunya outbreak; an upcoming problem for Pakistan
    (Future Virology, 2018) Muhammad S Afzal; Sarmad Zahoor; Mahvish Kabir; Haroon Ahmed; Sania Munir
    InPakistan,theinitialoutbreakofchikungunyawasreportedinNovember–December2016inthecityofKarachi. Atotal1740peoplewerebroughttohospitalbetweenDecember2016andMarch2017 [1].Recurrenceofinfection was observed again with thousands of cases in April 2017. It is proposed that due to the upcoming rainy season and poor senatory system of the city, reemergence of the Aedes aegypti (A. aegypti) borne viral disease will be highly predictable. During the recent outbreak, the highest numbers of cases were reported from Malir followed by Ibrahim Hyderi, Kemari, Bin Qsim, Kemari and Lyari [2]. In April 2017, a large number of confirmed and suspected cases were reported from the city. According to the Health Department of Sindh, from April 2017 to 5 May 2017, a total of 212 chikungunya cases were confirmed by testing acute-phase samples for presence of viral RNA and convalescent-phase samples for the presence of antibodies. Out of these reported cases, the highest number of patients (131) arrived at Ibrahim Hyderi Hospital, followed by 81 infected patients from Malir and Kemari, whereas only nine were reported from Saudabad [3]. The situation is alarming, considering that 21,000 suspected patients were tested for chikungunya or given symptomatic treatment at hospitals in the city [4]. On 4 May 2017, the WHO shared its findings to the provincial GovernmentthatfiveoutofsixcitydistrictsofKarachiweredisease-infested.Asaresult,itwashighlyrecommended totheGovernmenttotake‘radical’measurestosafeguardthecityfromtheincreasingincidenceofchikungunya [5].