Hazaribagh, Aug. 11: The wet weather has taken a toll on residents of Ramgarh district with outbreak of chikungunya forcing scores of patients to rush to primary health centres and the sub-divisional hospital in the last two weeks.

Ramgarh civil surgeon Dileep Kumar Singh told The Telegraph that the vector-borne disease had spread across all blocks of the district — Ramgarh, Gola, Mandu, Patratu, Dulmi and Chitarpur — in the first week of this month, though there were no casualties so far. The district has witnessed 250mm rainfall in the last six days.

Singh advised the residents to take precaution and especially prevent mosquito bites to keep chikungunya at bay, adding that its symptoms included fever, swelling and stiffness of joints, headache, vomiting, nausea and rash.

A government doctor, on condition of anonymity, said there was cause for alarm, pointing out that chikungunya patients were thronging primary health centres as well as private clinics and nursing homes. “It’s difficult to estimate the exact number of patients, but around 10,000 have been afflicted with the disease so far,” he said.

According to sources, doctors initially did not suspect the spread of chikungunya, as cases of viral fever were widely reported since last month.

Kuresha Khatoon of Golpaar Mohalla said she experienced joint pain after a bout of fever last week, following which her husband rushed her to a doctor. She was diagnosed with chikungunya.

Others like her even claimed that in many households, each and every member was suffering from chikungunya.

Asim Khan, a resident of CIC bustee in Naya Nagar, demanded health officials to pay attention to his locality. “Earlier, health officials were denying any outbreak of chikungunya, but as patients with joint pain and fever started to flood hospitals, they confirmed it,” he said.

A chikungunya patient added: “Patients at primary health centres with walking sticks in hand is a usual sight.”

R.K. Sinha, a doctor at Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences, Ranchi, and a native of Ramgarh, said there was no specific medicine for chikungunya. “We prescribe painkillers like paracetamol and ibrufen and sometimes antibiotics too. But patients should not panic, as they recuperate in four to five days,” he added.

Singh said they were giving painkillers free of cost to patients at health centres and Ramgarh sub-divisional hospital. He, however, said that with the rising number of patients, health officials were desperately in need of funds.