Chikungunya has many similarities with malaria and dengue. It can get misdiagnosed, but timely and correct treatment can help to a large extent.
Malaria and dengue have proven to be harmful illnesses in recent years. Though they are normally easy to deal with, scores of people all over the country have succumbed to both. Yet another illness of a similar nature, Chikungunya, often goes underreported, however. This could partly be because the symptoms of Chikungunya are quite similar to those of dengue and malaria.
What causes Chikungunya?
Much like dengue and malaria, Chikungunya is caused by the bite of an infected female Anopheles mosquito. The symptoms of Chikungunya include high fever, extreme joint pain, headache, chills, nausea, difficulty swallowing or retaining food, etc.
While the symptoms of Chikungunya match those of other vector borne illnesses, the joint pain it brings is of a much higher severity than that experienced in dengue. It may cause a person to double over when walking, or make sitting down or standing up difficult. It may even change a person’s stance or gait.
One surprising facet of this illness is that it can spread from humans to mosquitoes! Suppose a clean mosquito bites an infected human, the viral strain can spread from the human to the mosquito and incubate in the latter’s body. Now that the mosquito is infected, it can spread the illness further to other human beings.
How to deal with Chikungunya
If you or a loved one suffer from a persistent high fever and accompanying joint and muscle pain, you should confirm whether it is a case of Chikungunya with a blood test. As of now, there are no vaccines or medicines to cure the illness. A round of antibiotics can reduce the severity of the symptoms, followed with resting at home and eating light home cooked meals.
Do not attempt to self-medicate when you are diagnosed with Chikungunya. Some people make the mistake of taking painkilling medication for their joint pain. However, Advil or aspirin may cause inflammation and further increase the severity of the pain. Your doctor will prescribe drugs containing Amoxycillin and Paracetamol to reduce the fever and body pain. Meanwhile, the fever can cause dehydration, so drinking room temperature water throughout the day is important.
If there have been cases of Chikungunya in the locality, it is best to make your home a mosquito-free zone. Spray the house with mosquito-killing spray every single day to flush out lurking mosquitoes and repel new ones entering the house. Switch on an electric plug-in mosquito repellent vaporiser in the bedrooms before you and your family members go to sleep. The vapour creates a protective barrier between you and mosquitoes, so that they do not bite you when you are asleep. The vaporiser liquid comes in refill bottles which last for at least one month depending on your usage.