Never take mosquitoes lightly. Although small in size, these flying pests can leave you infected with severe viral infections. Dengue, malaria, and chikungunya are some of the vector diseases that are spread by mosquito bites.
If you think that residing in India, you need to be worried about dengue and malaria, then you are mistaken! Chikungunya has turned out to be another monstrous mosquito-borne disease catching up in India at a rapid speed, especially during the monsoon season.
Chikungunya was first detected in Tanzania in 1952. Slowly, more and more cases were reported in Africa, Europe, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, and the Indian Ocean regions.
Be it your concern about which mosquito spreads chikungunya or how to cure chikungunya, we will throw light on everything related to this mosquito-borne disease in this post.
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Chikungunya is a vector disease that is caused due to CHIKV or Chikungunya Virus. This virus is mainly transmitted to human beings through a mosquito bite. CHIKV is a virus that belongs to the Togaviridae family and genus Alphavirus.
The term ‘Chikungunya’ is derived from the Kimakonde language, which means “stooped walk” or “bends you up”. The major cases of Chikungunya are reported in Africa and Asia.
So, how do you get to know that you are either suffering from dengue or chikungunya? The confusion arises because both are caused by the same mosquito, Aedes Aegypti. Following are the signs and symptoms of chikungunya fever:
Also Read: How To Protect Yourself & Your Family From Mosquitoes
Chikungunya is caused by which mosquito? Two mosquitoes may cause this vector disease, and they are Aedes Albopictus and Aedes Aegypti. However, not all such mosquito bites cause this viral infection. It is caused only if the Chikungunya mosquito bite is by an infected mosquito.
The good news is that chikungunya is not a communicable disease that spreads from one person to another. As we mentioned earlier, the main culprit of the spread of chikungunya is the infected mosquito Aedes.
There is no proper treatment for chikungunya. All a patient can depend on for a cure is a therapeutic option. A combination of rest, fluid, and acetaminophen drugs can help recover from chikungunya within 10- 14 days.
The main focus of any treatment that your healthcare provider may suggest would be on relieving the symptoms of chikungunya. Doctors believe that chikungunya is one of those self-remitting diseases like the common cold, and flu.
Unfortunately, we don’t have a chikungunya vaccine to date. Although much research is conducted in this regard to develop a successful vaccine for chikungunya. So, prevention against mosquito bites is believed to be the only way to keep chikungunya at bay.
The symptoms of chikungunya are usually detected 3 to 5 days after the viral infection. The moment you experience any of the early signs mentioned above, you must consult a doctor and get tested for chikungunya.
The doctor is most likely to prescribe you some blood tests to diagnose whether it is chikungunya, zika, or dengue. Remember, early detection of chikungunya makes way for an early and smooth recovery without severe complications.
In many cases, the signs of chikungunya start subsiding within 1 to 2 weeks. However, the joint pain, also known as chronic chikungunya arthritis caused due to this viral infection takes months and even years to completely subside.
The following tips will help a chikungunya patient to recover fast:
Chikungunya can infect anyone irrespective of gender, age, or region.
The following people are at a higher risk of contracting chikungunya viral fever:
As they say that prevention is always better than the cure, so it is in the case of mosquito-borne diseases like chikungunya. Try to follow these precautions to keep the risk of chikungunya at bay:
Also Read: Benefits of Professional Mosquito Control Service
To ensure a faster recovery from chikungunya, a patient must be given the following food items:
It is equally important to restraint some particular foods from the diet of a chikungunya patient like:
In a nutshell, there is no fool-proof way to prevent chikungunya fever infection. What you can do is control mosquitoes indoors by booking mosquito control treatments from the pioneers in pest control service like HiCare. If you can’t afford to get complete mosquito pest control, try buying the super saver 365 days pack of AutoMos to keep mosquitoes away 24×7 all round the year. When going outdoors try to protect yourself and your kids from mosquito bites by using mosquito roll-ons or by wearing full-length clothes.
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