Following directions from the Public Health Department the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) will test all pregnant women living in the active Zika transmission area.
The health department of PMC on Monday issued a letter to all zonal medical officers, hospital superintendents and medical officers directing that all expecting mothers living within five kilometres of Zika-affected areas should be tested for Zika virus infection, said, Dr Kalpana Baliwant, health officer of PMC.
HT published a report on July 12, stating that despite the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) for mandatory testing of all pregnant women in Zika virus-affected areas the PMC had tested only 5% of expecting mothers from these areas.
Dr Suryakant Devkar, assistant health officer of PMC, said, “We want to test the maximum number of expecting mothers from active Zika virus transmission areas. The blood and urine samples of the pregnant women will be sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) Pune for testing.”
Since June 20, the PMC has reported 21 cases of Zika virus, which includes 10 pregnant women. The civic body now has active Zika virus transmission in 8 ward offices— Karve Nagar-Warje; Hadapsar, Kothrud-Bavdhan; Aundh-Baner, Singhgad road; Nagar Road, Kondhwa-Yewalewadi and Yerawada ward offices. There are 2,408 expecting mothers in Zika-affected areas registered with PMC-run hospitals for antenatal care. However, only 167 (7%) of them have been tested for virus infection.
As per the central guidelines, all pregnant mothers from Zika-affected areas should undergo 2 ultrasound examinations. The first ultrasound scan should be performed at 18-20 weeks and the second ultrasound scan between 28-30 of gestation.
Suspected Zika-positive case
The PMC on Monday reported another suspected case of Zika virus infection in a 23-year-old pregnant woman from Paud Phata, said the officials.
As per officials, the woman is five months pregnant. She visited a private clinic in Kothrud and complained of symptoms like fever and rash. She later visited Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital for treatment.
A senior official from PMC, said, “We have received the reports from the private laboratory. Surveillance has been started in this area and her samples will be sent to NIV to confirm the virus infection,” said the official.
Dr Kalpana Baliwant, health officer, PMC, informed on Monday that 11 samples of suspected patients have been sent to NIV, Pune. Out of these 10 samples are of pregnant women, 8 samples are from Kalas and one each from Pashan and Dahanukar Colony, she said.
