vaccine

Dengue Claimed 179 Lives, no Death Due to Chikungunya: Government

Dengue has claimed 179 lives across the country this year while no death has been reported due to chikungunya, though it affected 21,000 people, the Rajya Sabha was told today.

“During 2016 (till November 13), a total number of 179 deaths due to dengue and no death due to chikungunya has been reported in the country.

“The number of positive cases for dengue and chikungunya in the country during 2016 (till November 13) are 90,277 and 21,094 respectively,” Health Minister J P Nadda said in a written reply.

He said the reason behind the steep increase in the number of cases are– water storage practices, poor solid waste management, construction activities, large migratory population, inadequate vector management and lack of protective immunity in the affected population.

Dengue claimed 33 lives in Uttar Pradesh, 28 in West Bengal and 22 in Maharashtra, he said. Replying to another question on the same issue, Minister State for Health Faggan Singh Kulaste said the government has taken measures for prevention and control of dengue and chikungunya in the country, including in Delhi.

He said technical guidelines for prevention and control, clinical management and vector control have been issued to states and UTs while periodic reviews have taken place.

Since January, 2016, 22 review meetings at the levels of Minister, secretary and others were held.

He said since January 12 advisories have been issued at the levels of Secretary (H&FW) and Additional Secretary while states were requested to declare dengue as notifiable disease.

“States were requested to curtail out of pocket expenditure by fixing the rate for testing at Rs 600,” he said.

He said dengue and chikungunya diagnosis is provided through 542 Sentinel Surveillance Hospitals (SSHs) and 15 Apex Referral laboratories (ARLs) identified across the country.

“First version draft of ‘Strategy and Plan of action for Effective Community Participation for Prevention and Control of Dengue’ has been uploaded. A user-friendly App ‘India Fights Dengue’ has been launched while National Dengue Day has been observed on May 16, 2016 throughout the country,” he said.

Source : Smartcooky

Dengue cases grew by 63% in Maharashtra this year

The number of dengue cases in Maharashtra rose 63% between January and October this year compared to the same period last year. The number of deaths have remained the same, with 22 deaths in the comparative periods for 2015 and 2016.

Dengue is transmitted by the aedes aegypti-species of mosquito and has become a major public concern in the past two months, doctors said. A total of 5,653 cases were reported by the state epidemiology department this year as compared to 3,461 cases last year, with cases coming from cities like Mumbai, Kalyan-Dombivli, Pune and Nashik, said Dr Kanchan Jagtap , joint director of health services of the state.

“Every year, there is an increase in the number of dengue cases post monsoon. Moreover, the increase in construction sites have created an ideal environment for mosquito breeding,” she said.

Although the number of dengue cases has gone up, not everyone who is infected with the virus develops complications, said doctors. “Say out of 100 people infected with dengue, only 10 show complications such as a drop in blood pressure, severe drop in n platelet counts, ”said Dr Pradeep Shah, physician, Fortis Hospital, Mulund.

“Most of the patients who show complications are people who have had dengue in the past, young children, elderly and pregnant women. These are the vulnerable groups,” he said.

Doctors also said state data could be giving an incomplete picture of the dengue situation, because only those cases where the patient has tested positive for dengue infection using the ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) method of testing are counted as confirmed. “We treat so many patients who have all symptoms of dengue infection, but their blood test reports for ELISA test are negative. These numbers are not accounted for in the state’s data,” said Dr Altaf Patel, director of medicine Jaslok Hospital.

October 2016

Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation

Number of cases 63 number of deaths 5

Mira-Bhayander Municipal Corporation

Number of cases 33 number of deaths 2

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation

Number of cases 941 number of deaths 2

Source : Hindustantimes.com

Indonesians now have access to world’s first Dengue Vaccine

Each year an estimated 390 million dengue infections occur around the world, resulting in around 25,000 deaths annually worldwide. But those number may start to drop soon thanks to a new vaccine that has just been approved by the Indonesian government.

“The first dengue fever vaccine has been given the green light by the Drug and Food Monitoring Agency [BPOM] and is now available,” Cissy B. Kartasasmita, chairwoman of Immunization Task Force, the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI), said on Sunday as quoted by Tempo.

The vaccine, called Dengvaxia, has has been in development for 20 years by French pharmaceutical company Sanofi Pasteur. Since it was launched last year, it has been approved for use in seven countries and Indonesia is the second country in Asia in which the vaccine passed regulatory inspection. It has also been approved for use in Brazil, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Mexico, the Philippines and Paraguay.
According to a press release from Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccine has been tested through a clinical study program involving 40,000 children, adolescents and adults in 25 studies in 15 countries around the world. Efficacy analysis documented that the vaccine protects against 65.6% of symptomatic dengue disease caused by any of the four serotypes of the dengue virus in the study population from 9 – 16 years olds. In addition, the vaccines protection against severe dengue reached 93.2% and prevention of hospitalizations due to dengue reached 80.8%.

The important takeaway from that is that the vaccine has been proven to be most successful when applied to children 9-16 years old. It should also still be administered to those who have had dengue before, as there are actually four different strains of dengue and the vaccine protects against all of them.
Three doses of the virus need to be given in 6-month intervals and each dose currently costs Rp 900,000. Cissy said that the shots were not currently covered by the national healthcare program but that the plan was for them to eventually be incorporated into the government’s national immunization program.

Source: Coconut Jakarta