Chikungunya : symptoms, treatment
Chikungunya
Causes, symptoms, treatments, definition Everything you need to know about chikungunya is in Health magazine.
Of African origin, the term chikungunya means "the man who walks bent" in Swahili because of the symptoms caused.
Photo by Elias Tigiser from Pexels
Chigunkunya is an infectious disease related to the transmission of an arbovirus from the family Togaviridae through the bite of an infected female mosquito. In Europe, the main vector of transmission to humans is the tiger mosquito.
This disease was first identified in Tanzania in 1953.
Cause(s)
A case has just been reported of a native in the south of France, in Toulon.
Symptom(s)
The symptoms usually appear between two and ten days after the bite of the infected mosquito.
The symptoms caused by chikungunya are
- Pain in the joints (wrist, foot, ankles, knees)
- Headaches;
- A fatigue;
- Of the fever;
- Muscular pains;
- Sometimes conjunctivitis;
- Sometimes a rash on the trunk.
Prevention advice
The most effective way to avoid being bitten is to protect yourself against mosquitoes. To do this, it is recommended that you wear long clothing, equip your rooms with mosquito nets and apply skin repellent.
The next step is to get rid of the mosquitoes. It is advisable to limit the stagnant waters where the larvae develop. The pots should be emptied, the gutters monitored and the mosquitoes killed with insecticide.
The advice will help you know if it is a tiger mosquito.
Test(s)
To confirm the diagnosis of chikungunya, the doctor will perform a viral genome test with a blood test.
Treatment(s)
Currently there are no medications to kill the virus.
It is only possible to fight against each symptom. Your doctor will prescribe painkillers and anti-inflammatories.
Treating chikungunya virus with natural medicines
Touched by chikungunya for almost a year, Reunion Island is going through a real psychosis.
The virus transmitted by a small zebra-footed urban mosquito, Aedes albopictus, has already affected more than 7% of the population and its eradication is proving to be a delicate matter.
The policy of minimizing things so as not to frighten the population of Reunion Island has not been able to resist an explosion of pollution during the southern summer: the rectorship has decided to delay the start of the school year.
"Chik" is a little known arbovirus that causes a painful and disabling disease. Chikungunya means "to walk hunched over" in Swahili and not for nothing.
After an incubation period of four to seven days, a high fever suddenly appears.
It is accompanied by severe joint and muscle pain in the wrists, ankles and phalanges, headaches and sometimes skin rashes.
Slight bleeding may occur, especially in children.
There is no vaccine or medication for this disease. At most, anti-inflammatory medications can be taken to relieve pain. The first fatal case was reported on January 13.
The situation is very worrying.
But it was a small group of general practitioners who raised the alarm. Their offices were full of patients who were bent over in half. Today, more than 50,000 people have been affected.
Chikungunya has been present in East Africa for many years, but its arrival in a "westernized" region is a first.
Consequently, scientific knowledge is very limited and medicines are non-existent.
The atypical forms of chikungunya are the most worrying.
Twenty cases of meningoencephalitis have been identified, half of them in infants. Mother-to-child transmission of the disease has been confirmed repeatedly.
Some hemorrhagic syndromes also suggest that other viruses, such as dengue fever, could be added. Finally, in the old people and immunocompromised, the virus can revive and hide old pathologies.
The travelers involved
Chikungunya-induced deaths are now front page news in the international press.
It is known that the spread of this type of virus would be favored by the movement of travelers carrying the virus rather than by the migration of the insects.
People who carry the disease travel and are bitten by local mosquitoes, which then transmit the virus from one individual to another.
That's what happened in Reunion. When chikungunya arrived on the island, it found a boulevard. Virgin of all immunity, the population of Reunion was very vulnerable.
At first, local health authorities relied on the rigors of the Indian summer to eliminate the mosquito and thus the virus. But the Institut de veille sanitaire already speaks of an "endemic marching curve", in other words, the virus has been establishing itself for a long time.
It remains to be hoped that, over the years, the number of immunized victims will be sufficient to stop the progression of the virus.
The therapy is similar to that used for dengue hemorrhagic fever or yellow fever.
Homeopathy
- Initial phase
- Aconite: sudden fever with chills, dry red skin without sweat. Strong thirst for large amounts of cold water. Internal agitation.
- o Belladonna: red face congested with hot sweat. Sick or delirious. Pulsating headache.
Take 5 granules at 7 CH every hour or two hours.
Current prescription
- Eupatorium perfoliatum: fever with bone pain from fractures, generalized bruising, biliary vomiting, diarrhea, headache, eyeball pain.
- Gelsemium: progressive onset fever; sudden appearance with dark red face, drooping eyelids, lack of thirst.
- Rhus tox. Rhus tox: fever with muscle pain enhanced by movement, resulting in physical agitation of the patient; pain behind the eyes.
Take 3 granules in 7 CH every two hours alternately.
There is a wide range of other homeopathic remedies prescribed according to the modalities, individual reactions and stages of the disease (meningoencephalitis, convalescence...).
Essential Oils
The effectiveness of therapy depends on the use of HD, particularly phenols, which are antiviral.
- Alternative (complex): 15 drops four to six times a day in the water Effective but difficult to absorb (Sage).
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