With 32 persons having tested positive for Zika virus infection in Jaipur, the Rajasthan government is on an alert mode to check the spread of the virus.
While the child born to a Zika-infected woman here earlier this week was found normal, three new infection cases were detected among the students at the Rajput Hostel here on Thursday.
Isolation ward
Chief Secretary D.B. Gupta said the Zika infection cases were so far restricted to the State capital, where an isolation ward had been established for the patients in the government-run Kanwatia Hospital.
“The Medical & Health Department has launched an awareness drive with the emphasis that it is not a life-threatening disease,” Mr. Gupta said after a video conference meeting with the Collectors of all districts.
A seven-member high-level Central team from New Delhi has arrived here to assist the State government in the control measures. The Medical & Health Department's teams have surveyed over 35,000 households in Jaipur as part of the screening, diagnosis and treatment exercise.
The State government is facing the challenge to contain the spread of virus in the midst of preparations for the Assembly election after the imposition of model code of conduct. The health officials have apprised the people in the residential areas to prevent mosquitoes from breeding so as to safeguard themselves against the mosquito-borne disease.
Additional Chief Secretary (Medical & Health) Veenu Gupta said the quality of cross-screening and anti-larva work in the affected areas would be improved. She said the condition of 25 of the 32 infected persons had improved and the doctors had found the clinical symptoms among them having subsided.
Ms. Gupta said special attention was being paid to the screening of pregnant women in the first trimester, as this was a “sensitive period” for them. On any indication of Zika infection, samples were obtained and tested for confirmation, she said.