Page 3 - Viruses

India is going through its biggest Chandipura virus outbreak in 20 years

Union Health Minister J P Nadda on Tuesday said that out of the 53 confirmed cases of Chandipura virus, 51 cases were detected in Gujarat and two were detected in Rajasthan

Rajasthan health dept issues advisory after Chandipura virus patient found

The Rajasthan Medical and Health Department on Tuesday issued a detailed advisory to take precautions and ensure necessary management after a Chandipura virus patient was found in Dungarpur district of the state. Medical and Health Minister Gajendra Singh Khinvsar instructed the authorities to take necessary steps to prevent this disease from spreading after a Chandipura virus patient was found in the state. The department has instructed the principals of all the medical colleges of the state, chief medical and health officers and chief medical officers to ensure necessary action according to the advisory. Additional Chief Secretary of Medical and Health Department Shubhra Singh said after a patient was found in Dungarpur district, arrangements have been made for the prevention and treatment of the disease across the state. Also, instructions have been given to conduct special vigilance in the border districts of Gujarat. Singh said in the detailed advisory issued by the department,

What is Chandipura virus: All you need to know about how it spreads?

Fifteen kids were reported dead in Gujarat after they were infected with the Chandipura virus. Safeguarding children from this infection has become the priority. The virus was first recognised in 1965

Six kids die due to suspected Chandipura virus in a week: Cause & symptoms

Chandipura virus in Gujarat: Health Minister Rushikesh Patel said on Tuesday that the samples of 12 patients have been sent to Pune's National Institute of Virology for confirmation

Six children die of suspected Chandipura virus in Gujarat since July 10

Six children have died due to suspected Chandipura virus in Gujarat since July 10, with the total number of cases of the infection rising to 12, state Health Minister Rushikesh Patel has said. Samples of the 12 patients have been sent to Pune's National Institute of Virology (NIV) for confirmation, he said on Monday. Chandipura virus causes fever, with symptoms similar to flu, and acute encephalitis (inflammation of the brain). It is transmitted by vectors like mosquitoes, ticks and sand flies. The pathogen is a member of the Vesiculovirus genus of the family Rhabdoviridae. Patel said four of the 12 patients were from Sabarkantha district, three from Aravalli, one each from Mahisagar and Kheda in Gujarat, while two patients were from Rajasthan and one from Madhya Pradesh. They received treatment in Gujarat. "Six deaths due to suspected Chandipura virus have been reported in the state, but only after results of the samples it will be clear whether they were caused by the Chandipura

Chandipura virus: Four children dead in suspected infection in Gujarat

Chandipura Virus: Four children died in Gujarat due to the virus. District officials deployed teams to take preventive actions like dusting to kill sandflies and fumigation to kill the insects

What are the neurological symptoms of Zika virus? Know the details

Zika virus typically results in mild symptoms like fever, rash, and joint pain, however, its neurological complications can be severe and lasting

African swine flu in Kerala pigs won't spread to humans, says Centre

Govt also said that there is no vaccine available yet for this variant of swine flu

100 scientists spend two years renaming viruses after Covid mistakes

Airborne viruses will be called "pathogens that transmit through the air" under new terminology the World Health Organization hopes will end a scientific rift that hampered early response to Covid 19

US logs second human case of bird flu over contact with sick cow. 10 points

Avian influenza or bird flu usually occurs among wild aquatic birds worldwide and can infect domestic poultry. Cases of human infection caused by exposure to infected animals are rare and sporadic

In a first, Alaskapox virus claims life of elderly man in US: 5 points

Alaskapox virus: Also known as AKPV, the virus is transmitted from small mammals and is related to smallpox, cowpox and mpox. Its symptoms include rash, swollen lymph nodes and joint or muscle pain

Number of Covid-19 sub-variant JN.1 cases cross 1,000-mark in India

14 states and union territories reported no fresh Covid-19 cases on Friday

Does Covid prefer gut now? Virus detection in wastewater prompts debate

The evidence is extremely limited and theoretical, and there's no data suggesting that more people are experiencing severe digestive illnesses from Covid

H9N2 virus spreading among children, has connection with winter: Expert

H9N2 is a serotype influenza virus. The influenza virus is a common virus that comes at the end of the season, especially when there is the onset of winter

Ghosts of pandemics past

Foreign Bodies takes us on a sweeping journey through time and empires, detailing the history of mass vaccination and the intrusive imperial approaches to public sanitation

Surge in respiratory illnesses caused by flu, other known pathogens: China

A surge in respiratory illnesses across China that has drawn the attention of the World Health Organisation is caused by the flu and other known pathogens and not by a novel virus, the country's health ministry said Sunday. Recent clusters of respiratory infections are caused by an overlap of common viruses such as the influenza virus, rhinoviruses, the respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, the adenovirus as well as bacteria such as mycoplasma pneumoniae, which is a common culprit for respiratory tract infections, a National Health Commission spokesperson said. The ministry called on local authorities to open more fever clinics and promote vaccinations among children and the elderly as the country grapples with a wave of respiratory illnesses in its first full winter since the removal of COVID-19 restrictions. Efforts should be made to increase the opening of relevant clinics and treatment areas, extend service hours and increase the supply of medicines, said ministry spokesman Mi ..

Kerala govt withdraws Nipah related restrictions in northern Kozhikode

The Kerala government has withdrawn containment in all zones and allied restrictions imposed in northern Kozhikode district as no new cases of Nipah virus have been reported here since September 16. In a Facebook post on Tuesday, District Collector A Geetha said all schools located in the areas that fell within containment zones would be opened and regular classes would commence on Wednesday. However, the collector urged people to continue their vigil against the virus infection, maintain social distancing and ensure the use of masks and sanitizer. All the institutions in the district had been closed since September 14, and online classes were being held after the virus outbreak was declared in the state on September 12. The district administration advised students to wear masks and carry hand sanitizers when going to their respective educational institutions. A total of six people were confirmed to have been infected by the virus till date, and of them, two died. Of the two deat

Covid antiviral drug molnupiravir linked to virus mutations: Research

A widely used COVID-19 antiviral drug, molnupiravir, has been linked with a pattern of mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 virus, according to a study published in the journal Nature. A team, including researchers from the Francis Crick Institute and the University of Cambridge in the UK, noted that molnupiravir works by inducing mutations in the virus's genetic information, or genome, during replication. Many of these mutations will damage or kill the virus, reducing viral load in the body. It was one of the first antivirals available on the market during the COVID-19 pandemic and was widely adopted by many countries. The scientists used global sequencing databases to map mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 virus over time. They analysed a family tree of 15 million SARS-CoV-2 sequences so that at each point in each virus's evolutionary history they could see which mutations had occurred. Although viruses mutate all the time, the researchers identified mutational events in the global sequencing ..

Omicron subvariant BA.5 more virulent, study in mice finds

Scientists have used engineered mice to compare SARS-COV-2 Omicron subvariants and found that the BA.5 strain was more virulent likely due to its ability to rapidly replicate early during infection. The research, published in the journal Science Advances, addresses a challenge to studying and understanding rapidly evolving variants of concern due to a lack of animal models for running tests that could help explain why variants and subvariants each behave differently in people. The genetically modified mice, called K18-hACE2, used in the research express a human receptor that allowed SARS-COV-2 to enter otherwise inaccessible mouse cells. "One of the things we found is that the strain that causes more pathology, BA.5, replicates much faster early on during infection," said Avery August, a professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) at Cornell University in the US. "By doing that, the virus generates a really strong immune response, which then leads to increased pathology a

Nipah virus: Educational institutions to function normally in Kozhikode

The district administration advised students to wear masks and carry hand sanitizers when going to their respective educational institutions