Recent Outbreaks: Chikungunya spreads to Guatemala

 

“As of September 5, 2014 … a total of 651,344 suspected and 9,182 laboratory-confirmed chikungunya cases had been reported from these areas,” the CDCP warned. Common symptoms of the virus include a fever and joint pain, sometimes accompanied by headaches, rash, swollen joints and sore muscles. 

 

Most cases usually resolve within a week, but some people can suffer severe joint pain for years. The mosquito-borne virus causes fever and severe joint pain, but is rarely fatal. There is no vaccine, and it mainly is treated with pain medication.

 

'Malaria on rise in Karnataka state ,India

 

Despite all the measures and awareness programmes initiated to prevent malaria, the disease is on the rise in Mangalore. While the total number of malaria cases reported in Dakshina Kannada last year was 2,800, the number of cases reported this year is 6,800. While the officials claim that the increased number of cases is due to an improvement in reporting system, doctors like Srinivas Kakkillaya say that there has been actually an increase in the number of cases.