CANACONA
Health officials have been on alert as cases of chickenpox, an acute contagious disease, have been traced in Cotigao and screened 1,040 people in the village.
While nine new cases have been detected, health officials have confirmed that 25 cases were found in the past few months.
A team from the Canacona Community Health Centre (CHC) led by Health Officer Dr Sneha Amonkar visited Mahal-Baddem, Baddem, Avem and Avali areas in Cotigao for active surveillance of cases of chickenpox.
During the exercise, the health team on screened 1,040 people, which consisted of 72 families from 52 houses at Mahal-Baddem, 47 families from 39 houses at Baddem, 31 families from 28 houses at Avem and 203 families from 169 houses in Avali.
“Nine active cases were found and about 25 cases were noticed to have been old and having occurred 1-8 months ago. Also, around 169 houses were visited and screened by the health team on Wednesday,” informed a health team source.
When contacted, CHC Health Officer Dr Sneha Amonkar confirmed the detection of chickenpox cases in Cotigao village, but there are only 8-9 fresh cases and the rest cases were past cases.
“Yes, it is confirmed that the suspected viral infection is indeed chickenpox, but there are only 8-9 fresh cases and the villagers are given or moreover made to understand the need to take precautions so as it does not spread beyond the locality,” said Dr Amonkar.
Dr Darshana Korgaonkar, PHN Suchita Desai, Ulhas Velip and Prashant Kholkar were also part of the screening team that visited Cotigao.
“In most cases, young children and pregnant women have been infected,” said a source.
The health team also visited a school in the village and interacted with the teachers and students as part of an awareness campaign.
