This Article is From May 11, 2009

Bangalore in the grip of chikungunya

Bangalore in the grip of chikungunya
Bangalore: Summer in India brings with it a regular dose of ailments, especially mosquito-borne. Of these, chikungunya is marked by severe joint pain and inflammation, and is tough to treat as well.

But the Karnataka government doesn't think the spread of chikungunya in Bangalore's DJ Halli locality is alarming. The Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike is yet to pay a visit or even collect blood samples.

NDTV visited a slum in the city to do a reality check. For the ailing people of the slum, which has a population of 1.8 lakh, the only protection they have is a blanket. Dr Nagaraj, who has been practising here for the past 15 years, said he has been seeing at least 20 such cases everyday this week.

"You see people complain of severe joint pain and fever everywhere in the area. Clinics are full of patients, yet the government says there is no Chikungunya," said Dominic, a social worker.

The filth hits you in the gut as disease breeds everywhere.

"It's not just one line or one house. Our full colony has it. But when we went to the government hospital, there was no injection, no glucose and they sent us back. A private hospital is costly but we had to come here," said Shanti, a chikungunya patient.

The incidence of chikungunya this year is the lowest. Every summer this time of the year, there are cases of viral fever due to the weather.

It may not be called chikungunya, but clearly something is making the residents of Dj Halli sick. And while the onus is also on people to keep their area clean, authorities cannot afford to be dismissive.
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