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Chikungunya is a horrible malaise. It is very prevalent in India. While not deadly, it can cripple you for days and also leave lasting damage to joints in older

by shas3 11y ago

Chikungunya is a horrible malaise. It is very prevalent in India. While not deadly, it can cripple you for days and also leave lasting damage to joints in older people. Every adult in my family in India has gone through a bout of it. It is a recent phenomenon, viral-arthritis type diseases were rare till chikangunya made an appearance. I dread visiting India because of the widespread prevalence of this disease and dengue.

josu 11y ago
It's very prevalent in Mexico too, however it has mainly affected low and middle-low income families, my guess is that due to poor sanitation and the areas where they live (near likes and swamps). What about in India? Because from what I can infer from your comment it seems that is much more widespread over there.
- shas3 11y ago
  The problem in India is that the poor and the rich don't necessarily live in very different sanitary conditions. In my experience, the situation is likely worse in poorer neighborhoods, but it is still very, very bad in rich neighborhoods. Unlike countries with similar economic development metrics, India is particularly filthy. So much so that, 'Swacch Bharat' aka 'Clean India' is a big effort by the current Government. This study from Johns Hopkins University, for example details how the prevalence mosquito-borne fevers does not follow income/class: www.jhsph.edu/news/news-releases/2015/burden-of-dengue-chikungunya-in-india-far-worse-than-understood.html To quote, " Researchers estimated that on average, 23 percent of those who have not yet been infected become infected by dengue every year, corresponding to roughly 228,000 infections per year in Chennai alone. “This rate of infection is extremely high, almost three times higher than in areas of Brazil and Thailand where transmission was thought to be high,” says Rodríguez-Barraquer. They also found that the rate of infection in Chennai was similar in poor communities as in more affluent neighborhoods.  The research is believed to be the first to systematically measure dengue and chikungunya infection rates in India. “If you don’t understand the extent of the problem, you can’t address it,” she says. "

by shas3 11y ago

josu 11y ago

It's very prevalent in Mexico too, however it has mainly affected low and middle-low income families, my guess is that due to poor sanitation and the areas where they live (near likes and swamps). What about in India? Because from what I can infer from your comment it seems that is much more widespread over there.

shas3 11y ago
The problem in India is that the poor and the rich don't necessarily live in very different sanitary conditions. In my experience, the situation is likely worse in poorer neighborhoods, but it is still very, very bad in rich neighborhoods. Unlike countries with similar economic development metrics, India is particularly filthy. So much so that, 'Swacch Bharat' aka 'Clean India' is a big effort by the current Government. This study from Johns Hopkins University, for example details how the prevalence mosquito-borne fevers does not follow income/class: www.jhsph.edu/news/news-releases/2015/burden-of-dengue-chikungunya-in-india-far-worse-than-understood.html To quote, " Researchers estimated that on average, 23 percent of those who have not yet been infected become infected by dengue every year, corresponding to roughly 228,000 infections per year in Chennai alone. “This rate of infection is extremely high, almost three times higher than in areas of Brazil and Thailand where transmission was thought to be high,” says Rodríguez-Barraquer. They also found that the rate of infection in Chennai was similar in poor communities as in more affluent neighborhoods.  The research is believed to be the first to systematically measure dengue and chikungunya infection rates in India. “If you don’t understand the extent of the problem, you can’t address it,” she says. "