Commentary: Outbreak of Chikungunya in Pakistan

Rauf et al. in their recent correspondence in “Lancet Infectious Diseases” reported the first chikungunya outbreak in Karachi, Pakistan with 30,000 suspected and 4,000 confirmed cases (1). However, these estimates have been denied in a subsequent report by the National Institute of Health (NIH) i...

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Main Authors: Mallhi, Tauqeer Hussain, Khan, Yusra Habib, Khan, Amer Hayat, Tanveer, Nida, Khan, Omaid Hayat, Aftab, Raja Ahsan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:http://eprints.usm.my/38463/
http://eprints.usm.my/38463/1/Commentary_Outbreak_of_Chikungunya_in_Pakistan.pdf
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author Mallhi, Tauqeer Hussain
Khan, Yusra Habib
Khan, Amer Hayat
Tanveer, Nida
Khan, Omaid Hayat
Aftab, Raja Ahsan
author_facet Mallhi, Tauqeer Hussain
Khan, Yusra Habib
Khan, Amer Hayat
Tanveer, Nida
Khan, Omaid Hayat
Aftab, Raja Ahsan
author_sort Mallhi, Tauqeer Hussain
building USM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Rauf et al. in their recent correspondence in “Lancet Infectious Diseases” reported the first chikungunya outbreak in Karachi, Pakistan with 30,000 suspected and 4,000 confirmed cases (1). However, these estimates have been denied in a subsequent report by the National Institute of Health (NIH) indicating 818 suspected and 82 laboratory-confirmed cases of chikungunya (2). Rauf and colleagues have highlighted warm climate and wretched sanitary conditions as contributing factors of current outbreak and urge national and international health-organizations to address these momentous issues (1). We agree that climatic features and sanitation issues potentially lead to vector proliferation and the importance of these concerns cannot be disregarded. However, we felt inclined to share our point of view about the recent outbreak of chikungunya in Pakistan. We believe that there are some more important factors that should be considered as causes of this outbreak and must be addressed by the Government of Pakistan in haste to quell the further disease spillover. One of these factors is unchecked cross-border movements between Pakistan and India.
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spelling usm-384632020-05-04T02:19:50Z http://eprints.usm.my/38463/ Commentary: Outbreak of Chikungunya in Pakistan Mallhi, Tauqeer Hussain Khan, Yusra Habib Khan, Amer Hayat Tanveer, Nida Khan, Omaid Hayat Aftab, Raja Ahsan RS1-441 Pharmacy and materia medica Rauf et al. in their recent correspondence in “Lancet Infectious Diseases” reported the first chikungunya outbreak in Karachi, Pakistan with 30,000 suspected and 4,000 confirmed cases (1). However, these estimates have been denied in a subsequent report by the National Institute of Health (NIH) indicating 818 suspected and 82 laboratory-confirmed cases of chikungunya (2). Rauf and colleagues have highlighted warm climate and wretched sanitary conditions as contributing factors of current outbreak and urge national and international health-organizations to address these momentous issues (1). We agree that climatic features and sanitation issues potentially lead to vector proliferation and the importance of these concerns cannot be disregarded. However, we felt inclined to share our point of view about the recent outbreak of chikungunya in Pakistan. We believe that there are some more important factors that should be considered as causes of this outbreak and must be addressed by the Government of Pakistan in haste to quell the further disease spillover. One of these factors is unchecked cross-border movements between Pakistan and India. Frontiers Media 2017-09 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://eprints.usm.my/38463/1/Commentary_Outbreak_of_Chikungunya_in_Pakistan.pdf Mallhi, Tauqeer Hussain and Khan, Yusra Habib and Khan, Amer Hayat and Tanveer, Nida and Khan, Omaid Hayat and Aftab, Raja Ahsan (2017) Commentary: Outbreak of Chikungunya in Pakistan. Frontiers in Public Health , 5 (261). pp. 1-2. ISSN 2296-2565 https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2017.00261
spellingShingle RS1-441 Pharmacy and materia medica
Mallhi, Tauqeer Hussain
Khan, Yusra Habib
Khan, Amer Hayat
Tanveer, Nida
Khan, Omaid Hayat
Aftab, Raja Ahsan
Commentary: Outbreak of Chikungunya in Pakistan
title Commentary: Outbreak of Chikungunya in Pakistan
title_full Commentary: Outbreak of Chikungunya in Pakistan
title_fullStr Commentary: Outbreak of Chikungunya in Pakistan
title_full_unstemmed Commentary: Outbreak of Chikungunya in Pakistan
title_short Commentary: Outbreak of Chikungunya in Pakistan
title_sort commentary: outbreak of chikungunya in pakistan
topic RS1-441 Pharmacy and materia medica
url http://eprints.usm.my/38463/
http://eprints.usm.my/38463/
http://eprints.usm.my/38463/1/Commentary_Outbreak_of_Chikungunya_in_Pakistan.pdf