Zika Scare: Pregnant Woman In Pune To Be Screened In Affected Areas
Zika Scare: Pregnant Woman In Pune To Be Screened In Affected Areas
The Pune Municipal Corporation health department sent a letter to zonal medical officers, hospital superintendents, and medical officers instructing them to test all pregnant women residing within five kilometers of Zika-affected regions for Zika virus infection. Dr. Kalpana Baliwant, the health officer of PMC, shared this information.
According to a news report on July 12, the PMC tested only 5% of pregnant women in Zika-affected areas, despite the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s guidelines for mandatory testing. Dr. Suryakant Devkar, PMC’s assistant health officer, mentioned the aim to test as many expecting mothers as possible from active Zika transmission regions. The blood and urine samples of pregnant women will be sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) Pune for testing.
The PMC has reported 21 cases of Zika virus since June 20, with 10 of them being pregnant women. The active transmission of Zika virus is now present in 8 ward offices of the civic body, including Karve Nagar-Warje, Hadapsar, Kothrud-Bavdhan, Aundh-Baner, Singhgad road, Nagar Road, Kondhwa-Yewalewadi, and Yerwada ward offices. There are 2,408 expecting mothers in Zika-affected areas registered for antenatal care at PMC-run hospitals. However, only 167 (7%) of them have been tested for the virus infection so far.
According to the central guidelines, all expecting mothers from Zika-affected regions should have two ultrasound examinations. The first ultrasound should be done at 18-20 weeks of pregnancy, and the second one between 28-30 weeks of gestation.
There was a new suspected case of Zika virus infection reported by the PMC on Monday. This case involves a 23-year-old pregnant woman from Paud Phata, as per the officials. It appears that the 23-year-old pregnant woman, who is five months pregnant, sought medical attention after experiencing symptoms like fever and rash. She initially visited a private clinic in Kothrud and later went to Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital for treatment.
A senior official from PMC mentioned that they have received the reports from the private laboratory. Surveillance has been initiated in the area, and the woman’s samples will be sent to NIV for confirmation of the virus infection.
Dr. Kalpana Baliwant, the health officer at PMC, shared that 11 samples of suspected patients have been sent to NIV, Pune. Among these samples, 10 are from pregnant women, with 8 from Kalas and one each from Pashan and Dahanukar Colony.
