Chikungunya virus Already 15 cases in Switzerland

WHO worried about Chikungunya epidemic: Also 15 cases in Switzerland

07/16/2014

The World Health Organization (WHO) is concerned about the Chikungunya fever that is rampant in the Caribbean and Central America. Also in Europe already infected ones were registered. For example, 15 cases were reported from Switzerland that infected travelers.

WHO is worried about Chikungunya epidemic
The World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed its concern about the Chikungunya fever that is rampant in the Caribbean and Central America. As WHO chief Margaret Chan announced on Tuesday in the Cuban capital, Havana, many countries in the region are currently reporting cases. „The whole situation is serious“, so Chan. According to the WHO, the first Chikungunya diseases were reported in the Americas last December. The Caribbean and Central America are particularly affected.

Already 15 cases registered in Switzerland
According to the Pan-American Health Organization (OPS), there are now more than 5,000 confirmed cases in the region. In the Caribbean alone, 21 people have already died of the infectious disease. In the first half of the current year, 15 cases were also registered in Switzerland, as reported by the local Federal Office of Public Health. In the same period of the previous year, only two cases had occurred. Those affected would have become infected while traveling. Already in the past there were chikungunya diseases in Europe. Thus, in the summer of 2007, there was a regionally limited outbreak in the Italian province of Ravenna, in which 200 people fell ill.

Deadly course in weakened and old patients possible
Like the dengue virus, the Chikungunya virus is transmitted by various mosquito species. So far, the disease was mainly in Africa and in South and Southeast Asia widespread. Chikungunya fever is often described as a mix of the flu and arthritis. In addition to high fever infection often leads to symptoms such as severe headache, muscle, joint and body aches. Also, nausea and fatigue attacks as well as symptoms such as lymph node swelling, itchy rash, mucosal bleeding or gastrointestinal complaints may occur. Although deaths are rare, the tropical disease can be fatal in debilitated and old patients. So far neither effective drugs nor a vaccine exist against the fever. (Ad)