5 suspected Chandipura deaths in city

Rajkot: Five children have died due to a suspected Chandipura virus at Rajkot Civil Hospital within a week, city health officials said on Thursday. The hospital has sent the samples of these patients for testing to the National Virology Institute (NIV) in Pune.
Dr Harshad Dusra, the resident medical officer of Rajkot Civil Hospital, stated, “The deceased were pediatric patients with age ranging from 6 months to 13 years.We have sent samples for testing.” Although he declined to disclose the current number of suspected patients in the hospital, he mentioned that seven out of 100 beds in the pediatric ward have been allocated for patients with suspected Chandipura infection. Despite several attempts, the medical superintendent of the civil hospital, Monali Makadiya, could not be reached for comments.
In Jamnagar, two kids with suspected Chandipura virus infection were admitted to the state-run G G Hospital. Dr Deepak Tiwari, the medical superintendent of G G Hospital, said, “We suspect that the patients could be suffering from any of the three diseases — West Nile fever, Japanese encephalitis, or Chandipura virus. The results of the samples sent for testing are awaited.”