ON NOVEMBER 17, Anita Shrivastava gave birth to a girl at Kashiram Hospital in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. “I was quite relieved when the doctor said the girl was healthy. The past three weeks have been extremely stressful,” she says. The reason for her anxiety is Zika virus. On October 30, Shrivastava, 32, was diagnosed with an infection that causes mild symptoms like fever, fatigue, headache, and rashes. The virus, which primarily spreads through infected mosquitoes, rarely causes death but can be passed from an expectant mother to her fetus and cause birth defects like microcephaly (a condition where a baby’s head is much smaller than expected) and other severe congenital brain defects.
A day after the birth, a state government medical response team under pediatrician Raj Bahadur, reached Shrivastava’s home to check on the child and said she looked fine. “Physically, nothing seems wrong with the girl, but we will have to wait to be certain,” Bahadur says.
The first case of Zika was reported from Kanpur on October 23, and till November 23, the state had reported 146 confirmed cases, including nine pregnant women. All the cases have been reported from a few clusters in Kanpur (138 cases), Lucknow (six), Unnao, and Kannauj (one each). In Kanpur, all the cases have been reported in and around Jajmau, an industrial area with a large number of leather tanneries. Shrivastava, too, lives in the Tiwaripur locality of Jajmau. Saket Sharma, Nisha Pal, Sanjay Sharma, all living a few houses away from Shrivastava’s residence, have been diagnosed with Zika.
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Denne historien er fra December 01, 2021-utgaven av Down To Earth.
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A SPRIG TO CARE FOR
Punarnava, a perennial herb, is easy to grow and has huge health benefits
DIGGING A DISASTER
Soapstone mining near Dabti Vijaypur village has caused many residents to migrate.
REVIEW THE TREATMENT
Several faecal sludge treatment plants in Uttar Pradesh suffer from design flaws that make the treatment process both expensive and inefficient
MAKE STEEL SUSTAINABLE
As India works to double its GDP by 2030, its steel industry must balance growth with sustainability. By embracing policies like the Steel Scrap Recycling Policy 2019 and adopting green technologies, India is paving the way for a more sustainable future in steel production
Can ANRF pull off the impossible for India?
Anusandhan National Research Foundation is expected to reorient India's innovation goals but funding issues, old mindsets remain a drag
TROUBLED WOODS
Forests are a great bulwark against climate change. But this is fast changing. AKSHIT SANGOMLA travels through some of the pristine patches of the Western Ghats to explore how natural disturbances triggered by global warming now threaten the forest health
BLINDING GLOW
The science is clear: increased illumination has damaging consequences for the health of humans, animals and plants. It’s time governments introduced policies to protect the natural darkness and improved the quality of outdoor lighting.
GROUND REALITY
What happens when the soil loses the ability to grow healthy, high-yield crops on its own?
GM POLICY MUST BE FARMER CENTRIC
On July 23, the Supreme Court of India directed the Union government to develop a national policy on genetically modified (GM) crops for research, cultivation, trade and commerce through public consultation.
Vinchurni's Gandhi
A 96-year-old farmer transforms barren land into a thriving forest in drought-prone region of Satara