The Pune Municipal Corporation on Monday said that a 31-year-old woman from Kalas, Yerawada, has been diagnosed with Zika virus infection. This takes the count of pregnant women with the infection to six. The total number of cases in the city is now at 12.
The civic health department also held a meeting with more than 50 private hospitals on Monday where they were directed to report suspected cases of Zika virus-like symptoms to the corporation.
The samples will be sent to the Indian Council of Medical Research–National Institute of Virology (ICMR-NIV) whose report–either positive /negative will be considered before announcing Zika virus infection cases. As per PMC data, a total of 83 samples of pregnant women with suspected zika virus infection have been sent to NIV.
Dr Kalpana Baliwant, acting chief medical officer, Pune Municipal Corporation, told that hospitals will have to obtain the consent of the pregnant woman suspected of symptoms for collecting her blood sample. The civic health officials also urged the private hospitals to remain vigilant and conduct the required screening for the ante-natal women including Nuchal Translucency (NT) scan and other relevant tests to rule out an anomaly, “We have also urged the hospitals to display educational posters as part of the awareness about preventing Zika and other vector-borne diseases,” Dr Rajesh Dighe, assistant chief medical officer.
“We have reiterated that all private hospitals should report dengue and Zika cases to the civic authorities. We are aware that private hospitals also conduct PCR tests but the sample has to be sent to ICMR-NIV for confirmation of Zika virus infection,” Dr Dighe added.
Meanwhile, the woman who was detected in her 7th week of pregnancy, had symptoms like fever, body ache and a rash from June 29. She visited a private hospital where a PCR test confirmed that she was positive with Zika virus infection.
The hospital also notified PMC which directed them to send the sample to Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Virology (ICMR-NIV). The report sent by NIV also confirmed that the woman had Zika virus infection, “We are picking up more cases due to intensified surveillance,” civic health authorities said.