Latest news with #Chikungunya
The Sun
12 hours ago
- Health
- The Sun
I'm in constant pain after hearing big crack at base of my skull but doctors say there's nothing they can do
A NEW virus is spreading that feels a little reminiscent of the Covid-19 pandemic. Chikungunya is a mosquito-borne infection that can cause severe joint and muscle pain, headaches, sensitivity to light and skin rashes. The UK Health and Security Agency reported 73 cases this year to June, a 100 per cent increase on 2024. These were travellers returning from abroad (the mosquitos that spread the virus are not found in the UK). Outbreaks have been reported in 16 countries, including China, France and Italy. The last major one was 20 years ago, affecting 500,000 people. Most people recover in a couple of weeks, but for some the joint and muscle pain can persist for years. In rare cases, chikungunya is fatal. UKHSA says check the Travel Health Pro Website before you go abroad for the latest advice on your destination. Here's a selection of what readers have asked this week. Is little-known hMPV virus ravaging China the NEW Covid? So low over neck pain Q: ABOUT three years ago, while playing snooker, I looked up to take a shot, when there was a big crack right at the base of my skull. The pain was incredible and I now get pain whenever I look up. 4 My doctor suggested I might benefit from physio, but when the therapist massaged my neck, I got a sharp pain in a different area of it and I told her to stop. Since then, I have a constant pain in the place she massaged. It radiates down my neck, across my shoulder and down my left arm to my elbow. The pain is unrelenting. The doctor said there was nothing they could do. I feel abandoned and don't know what to do. A: That sounds incredibly distressing – both physically and emotionally – and it's understandable you would feel abandoned when you're living with constant pain and not getting clear answers or relief. It sounds like there may have been an acute injury at the time, to a ligament, joint, disc, or nerve involvement, due to the 'crack'. Then, ongoing pain when looking up might indicate nerve compression or irritation in the cervical spine (neck). The pain that radiates from the neck to the shoulder and arm would also fit with nerve root irritation or compression (possibly cervical radiculopathy). Of course, I can't diagnose you, but given your symptoms started with a traumatic event and are now persistent, radiating, and worsened by a prior intervention, I would push to make sure you're referred for further assessment and likely imaging (X-rays, MRI scans, ultrasound). Most hospitals have a 'musculoskeletal (or MSK) service' which is often run by advanced practice physiotherapists. They are highly skilled at assessing and managing musculoskeletal conditions, including ordering imaging and referring on to orthopaedics, rheumatology, neurology or pain clinics if needed. The fact your symptoms worsened after physiotherapy means something may have been aggravated, and 'nothing can be done' is not an acceptable answer when your quality of life is being severely affected. If your pain changes suddenly – especially if you get weakness, numbness, trouble walking, or bladder/bowel changes – that's a medical emergency and you should go to A&E immediately. Q: l AM 69 and am very healthy, except l have been asthmatic all my life, though it has always been managed well. After my last check-up at our asthma clinic, the nurse took my reliever inhaler (Ventolin) off my repeat prescription and said just to use the preventative (Fostair) when needed from now on. 4 Seems OK so far, but I wondered why this has happened. Is it a money-saving exercise, do you think? A: I am really glad that you have asked this as there is a lot of confusion regarding the recent changes to the asthma guidelines. Firstly, what your nurse has done is correct and secondly, it is not a cost-saving exercise. In fact, the Fostair inhalers cost more. The change is more about safety and aligning with modern best practice. The only 'cost-saving' aspect is indirect – preventing serious asthma attacks by keeping inflammation under better control. For decades, the advice was to take your preventer every day and use your reliever (bronchodilator), which helps open up the airways, when you get symptoms. But research showed that relying on the reliever alone for these episodes can increase the risk of sudden asthma attacks. People who felt 'fine' could still have ongoing airway inflammation, and frequent bronchodilator use was linked to worse long-term outcomes. Your nurse has switched you to a 'single inhaler maintenance and reliever therapy' (MART) plan. It means Fostair is now doing both the jobs of your preventer and reliever. Fostair contains beclometasone (steroid) and formoterol (long-acting but also quick-acting bronchodilator). So you will use it daily for maintenance, and if you get asthma symptoms, you can use this same inhaler to get instant relief and anti-inflammatory treatment in one puff. You can use Fostair 'as needed' and it will work just like Ventolin to open up the airways, but also treat the inflammation immediately. For people with mild, well-controlled asthma, this approach can reduce flare-ups and hospital visits. If you're using it more than two to three times a week as a reliever, it might mean your asthma isn't as controlled as it could be, and it's worth having an asthma review. What's causing unsightly leg veins? Q: OVER the last few months, I have developed these unsightly spider-type veins in my right ankle. The area they cover seems to be expanding. They are not painful, but I just wondered if you might know the cause and also if they are harmful. 4 I had a liver problem three years ago but I'm now OK. I take medication for slight portal hypertension. A: Thank you for sending me this picture of your ankle, which shows small red blood vessels (capillaries) visible on the surface of the skin in a web-like pattern. These could be one of two things – spider veins or spider naevi. Spider veins (also called telangiectasias or thread veins) are small, dilated blood vessels that look like thin red, blue, or purple lines, often in a web-like pattern. These are very common, usually appearing on the legs and sometimes the face. Causes include increased venous pressure, valve weakness in veins, prolonged standing, hormonal changes, or sun damage. They are not dangerous. Spider naevi (also called spider angiomas) can be distinguished by a central red dot (feeding arteriole) with thin radiating vessels like spider legs, which extend out from the centre. The most common locations for these are the face, neck, upper chest, and hands, but they can also appear on the legs. Doctors are more interested in these, because if there are three or more in adults, this can point to underlying liver problems or hormonal imbalance. If I could examine you, I'd do a simple test to help differentiate between the two, because from the picture you have sent, and with your history of liver disease, yours really could be either. The red spot of spider naevi with radiating blood vessels blanch (go pale) when pressure is applied (such as with a glass) and rapidly refill with blood from the centre of the spider outwards. This distinct pattern is a key diagnostic feature.
Scientific American
21 hours ago
- Health
- Scientific American
Chikungunya Outbreak, Glacial Outbursts and a New Human Ancestor
Rachel Feltman: Happy Monday, listeners! For Scientific American 's Science Quickly, I'm Rachel Feltman. Let's kick off the week with a quick roundup of some of the latest science news. First, a public health update from one of our colleagues at Scientific American, senior health editor Josh Fischman. He's here to update us on an ongoing outbreak of the chikungunya virus in China. Josh Fischman: So what has happened here is that, in June, China started reporting a spike in cases of chikungunya, and China is having a fast rising outbreak in a place that has never had one before. These are centered on the southern province of Guangdong and its city of Foshan—that's near Hong Kong. And by the beginning of August, there were up to 7,000 cases. On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. In 2025 about 240,000 cases and 90 deaths have been reported in 16 different countries and territories, and that's just through July. The chikungunya virus was first identified in Africa in 1952. The name comes from a Makonde word—uh, that's a language spoken in Tanzania—that means to bend up, and it refers to the most prominent symptoms, which are really, really painful joints that distort your posture and contort you into uncomfortable positions. In addition, it causes a fever and rashes, and these things are usually short-lived. They take a week or two to get over. Sometimes, though, they can continue for years. And sometimes Chikungunya can cause heart damage. The virus is carried by two mosquito species, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. And people can get sick within three to seven days of a bite. And what worries me a little bit is that chikungunya moves really easily in this age of fast global travel. There are already outbreaks in France, and in Italy, and cases reported in the U.S. Experts say that people in the United States should be a little concerned. There are, however, limiting factors that should minimize worry: spraying insecticides and illuminating mosquito areas. And in a temperate area, like most of the United States, the first killing frost will get rid of the insects and that stops viral transmission. However, if you do get bitten and get sick, there are no good antiviral therapies. There's no specific treatment for chikungunya. And this is important if you're traveling to affected areas where there are big outbreaks. There are two effective and Food and Drug Administration–approved vaccines that get the body to produce antibodies, and these both lower the risk of infection. And pretty fortunately, insect repellents and protective clothing work pretty well. Feltman: And now for some climate news. Last Tuesday officials in Juneau, Alaska, confirmed a glacial outburst at Suicide Basin, a lake about 10 miles from the city center that's attached to the Mendenhall Glacier. A glacial lake outburst flood, also known as a GLOF, is a rapid, unpredictable flood caused by the sudden drainage of a glacial lake. As glaciers melt—which is happening faster these days, thanks to climate change—some of their water forms so-called glacial lakes. They're often dammed up naturally by glacial ice or by rocks and soil left behind as the glacier melts. But as meltwater levels rise, they can overflow the natural dam or even bust right through it. Suicide Basin has been a regular site of outburst floods since 2011, but the annual GLOFs have gotten worse each year since 2023. By last Wednesday morning, the Mendenhall River had entered the major flood stage. Floodwaters had receded by that same evening but only after reaching a peak of 16.65 feet. That's more than half a foot higher than last year's peak flooding, which broke previous records. Local officials said a set of temporary barriers placed along the river earlier this year, along with close monitoring and early warnings to the public, kept flooding of homes, schools and businesses to a minimum. The Alaska Beacon reported that no overnight rescues or emergency evacuations had been required and that flood damage was limited to one bridge and some seepage of water into homes and yards. In contrast, last year's floods caused major damage to 64 homes, and some residents had to swim to safety or be rescued by boat. In other science news, a study published in Nature last Wednesday describes the remains of an entirely new species of human ancestor. The fossils, which date back to around 2.8 million to 2.6 million years ago, belong to a new member of the genus Australopithecus, meaning this species is a cousin of the famous Lucy. The species doesn't have a formal name yet, because researchers are hoping to find more fossils first— the new study is based only on a handful of teeth collected in Ethiopia. But even with just a few chompers to go on, the researchers say they're confident they've got a new hominin on their hands. The news is particularly exciting because of something else the researchers found at the same site: teeth from a member of our own Homo genus. That means this new flavor of Australopithecus could have lived alongside close relatives of ours. And speaking of human origins: In a study published last Friday in the journal Science Advances, researchers report capturing the process of human embryo implantation in three dimensions in real time. The researchers note that we already knew that embryos had to burrow into uterine tissue in order to successfully implant but that most studies have focused on the genetic and biochemical aspects of this stage of conception instead of examining the mechanical process. Scientists from the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia in Spain created experimental platforms made of collagen, designed to mimic the tissue of the uterine lining. They created systems to use with both human cells and mouse cells. When they introduced mouse embryos to their artificial uterus, the embryos exerted force to press themselves against the surface. Then the uterus adapted by folding its cellular matrix around the embryo to envelope it. Human embryos acted differently, burrowing into the uterine tissue to penetrate it. The researchers also saw signs that the embryos could sense and react to mechanical forces from their environment, as well as from other nearby embryos. Previous research suggests that between one third and half of all fertilized eggs fail to fully implant, so a better understanding of the mechanical process could help address some cases of infertility. Let's cap things off with a fun animal story. According to a study published last Tuesday in the journal Discover Animals, dolphins and whales have been hanging out together without us. Researchers studied nearly 200 different video clips of whales and dolphins interacting with each other, spanning across 20 years and 17 countries. They found that six types of whales and 13 species of dolphin seemed to interact socially. Humpback whales and bottlenose dolphins were particularly prone to indulging in interspecies hangs, and the most common interaction involved dolphins swimming alongside a whale's snout. They may be engaging in a practice known as 'bow riding,' which is where dolphins use the pressure fronts created by ships or large whales to swim faster. The researchers believe that dolphins may seek whales out for stimulation or play and that whales may sometimes reciprocate. That's all for this week's news roundup. We'll be back on Wednesday to talk about the surprising sexual diversity of the animal kingdom. Science Quickly is produced by me, Rachel Feltman, along with Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura. Emily Makowski, Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Subscribe to Scientific American for more up-to-date and in-depth science news.
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- Health
- South China Morning Post
How mosquito-borne viruses chikungunya, dengue and Zika got their names
Chikungunya is on everybody's radar these days as cases increase significantly worldwide, including across Asia. 'That which bends up' is what the virus's name means in Kimakonde (also known as Makonde), a Bantu language of the Makonde ethnic group from southeast Tanzania and northern Mozambique, deriving from the verb kungunyala 'to assume a contorted position'. The moniker makes reference to one of the hallmark symptoms of the disease: along with abrupt onset of high fever, headache, nausea, fatigue and skin rash, there is the characteristic prolonged debilitating joint pain, lasting months or even years – which leads to infected persons' contorted posture. The name chikungunya has an origin in an African language because this mosquito-borne virus is traditionally maintained in a complex African zoonotic cycle, and was first described during a febrile illness outbreak in the province of Makonde in southern Tanzania in 1952. Workers perform anti-mosquito measures outside Sau Mau Ping Shopping Centre in Hong Kong on August 12, 2025, amid warnings of a heightened risk of possible chikungunya fever transmissions. Photo: Jonathan Wong Its existence actually dates further back. However, because symptomatically, chikungunya fever can be difficult to differentiate from dengue fever, the disease was previously considered and known as dengue, another febrile epidemic disease of the tropics.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Health
- Time of India
Low tests may mask Bhopal's true dengue, c'gunya burden
Bhopal: In the first two weeks of August, the district malaria office has identified just three cases of Dengue and two cases of Chikungunya. According to DMO, cumulative 57 cases of dengue and 55 for Chikungunya have been reported from the state capital this year. At the start of the vector transmission season, health department ramped up testing for mosquito-borne diseases like Dengue and Chikungunya. Since late June, state government run laboratories have conducted 1,657 Dengue tests and 576 Chikungunya tests—more than triple the daily testing rates seen earlier this year. From January to late June, Dengue testing averaged about 10 tests per day, while Chikungunya saw just 2.5. In the recent period, those numbers jumped to 35 and 12 tests per day, respectively. Despite the increase in testing, the number of positive cases has not surged. Dengue recorded 38 new cases, nearly matching the 42 found in the first half of the year. Chikungunya cases dropped from 48 to 21. This means one Dengue case was found for every 44 tests, and one Chikungunya case for every 27. The positivity rate for Chikungunya fell sharply. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Use an AI Writing Tool That Actually Understands Your Voice Grammarly Install Now Undo The drop in Chikungunya positivity rate—from nearly 11 percent to under 4 percent—may indicate improved control measures or a seasonal shift in transmission. Dengue's positivity rate remained steady at around 2.3 percent across both periods. Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and silver prices in your area.
RTHK
3 days ago
- Health
- RTHK
Bacterial war mulled as control measure for mosquitoes
Bacterial war mulled as control measure for mosquitoes Environment Secretary Tse Chin-wan says he is confident the chikungunya situation can be kept under control. File photo: RTHK Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan said on Saturday the government is considering exposing mosquitoes to a bacteria that affects their reproductive system – as a way of controlling mosquito-borne diseases. He voiced that possibility as the SAR logged its ninth imported case of chikungunya this year on Friday, saying the number of such cases would continue to increase due to the large volume of incoming tourists. Tse said he is confident the chikungunya situation within the territory can be kept under control due to the government having years of experience in preventing dengue fever outbreaks but that his bureau will nevertheless continue to search for new methods of eliminating mosquitoes. One of these, he said, is to cultivate and deploy bacteria that can influence the ability of Aedes albopictus mosquito, which spreads both Chikungunya and dengue fever, to transmit diseases, as suggested by the World Health Organization. "When the mosquito carries this bacteria, there are two effects. The first is that the mosquito's reproductive ability will be reduced, which means that the number of mosquitoes can be controlled," Tse said on a radio programme. "The second effect is that, even if the mosquito is infected with dengue fever or chikungunya, its ability to transmit the disease will also be lowered." Tse said the city may start testing the method from next year, as Singapore has also adopted the practice and the results have been found to be effective. The bureau will also trial the use of robot dogs from September to spray mosquito pesticides at locations that are hilly and harder for staff to reach. Tse said the initial phase would consist of only one robot dog and that more of them would be used if good results are recorded.
