"Welcome to Kerala, God's Own Country"
a sign board on the side of a busy highway in kerala welcomes all tourists coming to the state. But what's happening deep inside this country can only be attributed to Devil himself. For the past 2 to 3 months, people in central kerala have been living in constant fear for their life as an epidemic is slowly streching its arms. Hospitals are full with patients suffering from Chikungunya, Yellow fever, Dengue fever....., God knows what all. Atleast 10 to 20 people die everyday b'cos of Chikungunya alone. Lately the obituary column in local newspaper runs in pages. As my mom puts it, .....this is just like Bibilical times, God's wrath is upon the people.
The primary reason for fear among people is Chikungunya, a viral fever spread by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes (Tiger mosquitoes). People suffering from this complain of itchy skin rashes, joint pains, joint swelling, headaches, fever and even slight photophobia. The old and the weak are likely to die within days of catching this fever. The virus seemed to have suffered a mutation and therefore the symptoms can vary from patient to patient. There are no cures for Chikungunya and no vaccine available for its prevention.
The latest victim was my uncle, who passed away last friday. He was a good man but Chikungunya got him at the age of 63. May his soul rest in peace. As monsoon rains lash kerala on a daily basis and mosquitoes find it easy to breed in the continous availability of stagnent water, Chikunguya cases are on the rise. There is nothing much the government or the WHO (World Health Organisation) can do to solve this problem. Just hope and pray that God himself will come down to save his people.
a sign board on the side of a busy highway in kerala welcomes all tourists coming to the state. But what's happening deep inside this country can only be attributed to Devil himself. For the past 2 to 3 months, people in central kerala have been living in constant fear for their life as an epidemic is slowly streching its arms. Hospitals are full with patients suffering from Chikungunya, Yellow fever, Dengue fever....., God knows what all. Atleast 10 to 20 people die everyday b'cos of Chikungunya alone. Lately the obituary column in local newspaper runs in pages. As my mom puts it, .....this is just like Bibilical times, God's wrath is upon the people.
The primary reason for fear among people is Chikungunya, a viral fever spread by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes (Tiger mosquitoes). People suffering from this complain of itchy skin rashes, joint pains, joint swelling, headaches, fever and even slight photophobia. The old and the weak are likely to die within days of catching this fever. The virus seemed to have suffered a mutation and therefore the symptoms can vary from patient to patient. There are no cures for Chikungunya and no vaccine available for its prevention.
The latest victim was my uncle, who passed away last friday. He was a good man but Chikungunya got him at the age of 63. May his soul rest in peace. As monsoon rains lash kerala on a daily basis and mosquitoes find it easy to breed in the continous availability of stagnent water, Chikunguya cases are on the rise. There is nothing much the government or the WHO (World Health Organisation) can do to solve this problem. Just hope and pray that God himself will come down to save his people.