Chikungunya strikes country
Staff reporter
Chikungunya, a mosquito-borne viral disease, is spreading across the country before the full onset of monsoon. The most common symptoms of this disease are fever and joint pain. Allaying fears about the disease that spreads with damp weather and heat, Prof. ABM Abdullah of the medicine department at the Banbgabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Medical University (BSMMRU) told The Independent yesterday: Its not a life-threatening disease. Patients may feel pain for a long time, but
there is nothing to worry. Treat the disease with painkillers or consult a physician if the viral fever continues to rage on. When it rained little more in March, the disease started spreading in the capital, he noted.
He said the disease is caused by a white striped little mosquito called Aedes. It mainly bites during the dayespecially in the morning and during the sunset.
Sleeping under mosquito nets is necessary to protect oneself from mosquito attacks, he added. These mosquitoes grow from their larvae which develop in clean water. Experts suggest that water collected under air-conditioners or rain water held in abandoned coconut shells, pots or old tyres must be disposed of to prevent mosquitoes from breeding. Health authorities, city corporations and doctors have advised citizens to keep their households clean. Abdullah said it is the duty of the civic authorities to destroy Aedes mosquitoes and develop awareness among the citizens about this vector-borne disease.
