The term “chikungunya” comes from the Kimakonde dialect and means “to be contorted” due to the bent appearance of those who have it. So far, it’s infected about half a million people in the Western Hemisphere. If you are one of those unfortunate people, the bad news is that there are no antiviral medicines to fight it—yet. But hope is on the horizon: an experimental vaccine is getting good results. A small, early clinical trial by researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (in Maryland, USA) found in August that a new, experimental vaccine was safe, and that it triggered a strong response from the immune system. (Lancet Journal, August 15).
This isn’t the first attempt at making a vaccine, however. Michaeleen Doucleff of NPR reported on August 18 that a team at the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, in the 1980s had already created a vaccine with a live, weakened version of the chikungunya virus. That vaccine completed a Phase Two clinical trial. But scientists stopped development because there wasn’t enough funding.
The virus, however is smart: it’s mutating and adapting itself to new hosts. Researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston reported in June that “the Indian Ocean lineage of chikungunya virus that has spread to the Indian Ocean Basin, Southeast Asia, Oceania and Europe continues to mutate and adapt to develop higher efficiency for transmission by the Asian tiger mosquito.” They found that “this mutation in the Indian Ocean lineage occurred through a single adaptive change in the virus' genetic code that alters one protein in the envelope surrounding the virus.” So more people will be at risk of infection, as not only the Aedes aegypti, but now the Asian tiger mosquito can carry the virus.
Riding it out
In the meanwhile, patients have little choice but to ride it out—enduring a week of feverish sweats, fatigue, and joint pains, sometimes searing aches that seem to attack whichever joints happen to be their weakest. And then there are the rashes: very itchy ones, like mad ant bites. The good news? Chikungunya should only last a week. It won’t kill you. Conventional doctors can only prescribe paracetemol and sponge baths for the fever; and non-steroidal pain relievers such as diclofenac, celecoxib, naproxen, or ibuprofen for those aching joints. Beyond that, it’s a case of: stay in bed; get rest, do mild stretches; and drink lots of fluids. But there are lots of bush medicines and homeopathic remedies out there, said to help relieve the symptoms of fever and pain.
From fever grass to jack-ass bitters
Prof Compton Seaforth is a noted T&T herbal chemist who, along with Dr Yuri Clement, Yasmin Baksh-Comeau and Rajesh Ragoo of UWI, did a survey in 2007-2008 to document the use of “cooling” local medicinal plants, as well as plants to treat fever, in 50 rural communities in Trinidad. The survey found that older women in the countryside (who were the ones mostly responsible for the family’s heath) used 44 plant species for “cooling” purposes—helping the body which has fever, or has rashes or hives, to achieve a balance. Cat’s claw, vervine, candle bush, caraille and shiny bush were the most used. For fever, the women also used lemon grass (fever grass) and jackass-bitters (sepi). The next step would be to test these village remedies scientifically. They are not cures, just ways to ease fever and rashes.
Indian sweets to the rescue?
Dr Suresh Shah, an Indian doctor who claimed to cure 1,300 patients during a major chikungunya outbreak in India eight years back, said: “The best way to treat chikungunya is to have home-made sweets like sukhdi, kheer, sheero and lots of liquids. Of course, paracetamol should be taken, but the main focus should be on home-made sweets.” He said patients needed energy as joint pain and viral fever make the patient weak.
Papaya leaf powers
But perhaps the most intriguing possible homeopathic remedy is papaya leaf juice. Don’t chug a whole glass: just a couple tablespoonfuls a day is said to work wonders. The ayurvedic practitioner Valerian Mendonca swears by papaya leaves. In 2010, he posted this on his blog: “If you or anyone you know has dengue or chikungunya or any illness which drastically reduces the blood platelet count of the patient, take one papaya leaf. Wash it in plain water. Discard the stem and the hard central veins in the leaf. Cut the green leafy portion into small pieces and run it through a mixer or pound it to a paste. If it is too dry, add a teaspoon of water, pound to a paste, squeeze the paste through a muslin cloth or a tea strainer. You will get about two tablespoons of nasty tasting green liquid. Make the patient drink it. The platelet count jumps within (three) hours.” And as a result, you can drastically reduce the fever, and radically shorten the disease length, he says.
The natural health site www.naturalhealth365.com supports this view. It notes that the Japanese, the aboriginals of Australia and many traditional herbal treatments have all used papaya leaves. It states: “The phytonutrient compounds in papaya leaves act in synergy to display a strong antioxidant and immune enhancing impact in the bloodstream. Papain, alkaloids and phenolic compounds are responsible for their positive biological effects… The phenolic compounds, caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, quercetin and kaempferol exhibit potent antioxidant effect. Papaya leaves are also high in minerals like calcium, potassium, sodium, magnesium, iron and manganese.”
The health site goes on to state: “The best way to consume the papaya leaves is in the form of tea. Prepare a tea infusion, by adding ten leaves to half a gallon of water—allow it to boil till the quantity of water is decreased to a quart. Cool and consume in small doses as needed to treat indigestion, for detoxifying, for immune-building purposes or as a general tonic.” Conventional science has yet to research this. But an August 17 article from Malaysia Today reported on the powers of the humble papaya leaf. A study led by Dr Soobitha Subenthran and team from the Institute for Medical Research in Kuala Lumpur found some remarkable papaya leaf juice healing effects for dengue (not chikungunya), the paper reported. The researchers discovered that Carica papaya leaf extract helped to significantly increase platelets in patients with dengue fever.
So there may be something to the papaya leaf’s amazing powers to heal. But of course, the only sure way to deal with Chikungunya is not to get it. That means stopping those pesky mosquitoes from reaching you, to bite you and infect you. See our article tomorrow on tips to do just that. • TO BE CONTINUED
ChikV Facts
• It is a viral disease. You get it when an infected mosquito bites you.
• These same mosquitoes can transmit dengue, too, with some similar symptoms.
• Symptoms start three to seven days after being bitten.
• Main symptoms: high fever (40C, 104F); joint pains (lower back, ankle, knees, wrists, fingers).
• Other symptoms: joint swellings, headaches, muscle pains, rashes, nausea, fatigue. Can affect eyes (conjunctivitis, eye pain). Can also affect the brain (altered mental states), the nerves (nerve pain). In very rare cases, can affect the heart (inflammation of the heart muscle, irregular heartbeats).
• There are no antiviral medicines.
• Rarely fatal. Most people recover in a week. Since 2005, one in 1,000 chikungunya virus infections has resulted in a fatal disease.
• The virus remains in your body for seven days and during this time, any mosquitoes that bite you can also become infected—and bite others in your household, possibly infecting them.
• Recovery confers lifelong immunity. (CDC and WHO)