AHMEDABAD: As many as 22 children have died due to Chandipura virus (CHPV) in Gujarat this monsoon season, with 35 cases testing positive out of 184 suspected infections, state health minister Praful Panseriya said on Monday.Seven patients remain under treatment across civil hospitals in Gandhinagar, Rajkot and other districts, news agency PTI reported.Government and private paediatric facilities have been instructed to immediately admit symptomatic patients to ICU beds to prevent organ failure, Panseriya said.“A total of 184 suspected cases have been registered in the state so far, out of which 35 cases have tested positive and the results of 11 samples are still pending,” he informed.Out of the cases reported so far, 22 children have died due to Chandipura virus, he said.All patients are under 15 years of age, he added.Children admitted to civil hospitals in Gandhinagar, Sabarkantha-Himmatnagar, Patan, Rajkot and Bhavnagar are being provided the best and super-specialist treatment, with doctors monitoring their condition, Panseriya said.He further noted that cases are being reported from different areas and are not concentrated in a particular village.Health teams are spraying pesticides in areas where animal husbandry is practised to target sandflies, which are responsible for spreading the encephalitis virus, PTI reported.Government and private paediatric facilities have been instructed to admit patients showing symptoms of the virus to ICU beds with oxygen and ventilator facilities and not delay treatment so that serious conditions such as multiple organ failure can be prevented, he said.Chandipura encephalitis is a viral disease that spreads mainly through sandflies and other insects and causes inflammation of the brain.The virus was first isolated from a patient in Chandipura village in Nagpur district of Maharashtra in 1965.(With agency inputs)
