The number of autochthonous, or locally acquired chikungunya cases have reached a new milestone this past week, eclipsing the 7,000 mark (7,007), prompting US health authorities to reissue their travel notice for the country south of the border.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says local transmission means that mosquitoes in Mexico have been infected with chikungunya and are spreading it to people.
CDC recommends that travelers to Mexico protect themselves from chikungunya by preventing mosquito bites. Some travelers may be more likely to get chikungunya, have severe disease, or be at higher risk for other reasons. CDC advises travelers in high-risk groups to discuss their travel plans with their health care provider. These groups include the following: People who have arthritis, people with serious underlying medical conditions (such as high blood pressure, heart disease, or diabetes), people older than 65, women who are late in their pregnancies, because of the risk to babies born at the time their mother is sick, long-term travelers, including missionaries and humanitarian aid workers and people visiting friends and relatives and people who might have difficulty avoiding mosquito bites, such as those planning to spend a lot of time outdoors or staying in rooms without window screens or air conditioning.
In the US, 467 imported chikungunya cases have been reported. No local transmission of the virus has been recorded in 2015.
The countries south of Mexico in Central America account for 162,249 chikungunya cases, or nearly one-third of chikungunya reported in the Western hemisphere in 2015.
Robert Herriman is a microbiologist and the Editor-in-Chief of Outbreak News Today and the Executive Editor of The Global Dispatch
Follow @bactiman63
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What does the illness consists of?
http://www.cdc.gov/chikungunya/symptoms/
I have worked with people who has gotten this. It’s a type of viral fever, along with joint pains. And there really is no medications against this except taking an ibuprofen or aspirin. The worst thing is, the arthritis/body pains/joint pains, make your body feel infinitely weak and your movements would become very very slow, say lifting your hand or getting up from your bed., and you cant even massage yourself or touch your joints or places that hurt, because when you do, it feels like a burning sensation that hurts more..
The fever, and cold like symptoms would subside after a week or two, but the joint pains remain for several months. The whole sickness takes more than 6 to 9 months to get relief from., but even then, the virus will remain in your body., and you will forever suffer from getting it once., making you slow, or hurting your joints or your legs while you are in bed. It’s one of the worst diseases out there, and people who has gotten it, has told me that they’d choose any other illness or cancer over this sickness., and it makes you helplessly weak, destroying your will to live, and emotionally and psychologically cripple you, as it takes so long to get better, while you are trapped in your own body unable to function the simplest of things.
Discovered malaria medication helps for symptoms. hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine phosphate – combination of both is best.
I read that cases are worst in certain states of Mexico, but that fewer than two dozen cases have occurred in Cancun area. Is that correct? It would be nice to have more precise and up-to-date figures for states more heavily traveled to during holidays.