It has been abnormally hot in the city of Karachi. The daytime temperatures have, at times, been above 40 degrees and the whole city is sizzling. Coupled with it is the pollution in the air whose index is also flying high and to add to the miseries of Karachites there is an invasion of diseases which previously were never heard of.

Take this new entrant commonly known as Chikungunya virus, a viral infection, which is spreading relentlessly in the city and is transmitted by the bite of infected mosquitos. Symptoms can include fever, joint pain, headache, muscle pain, joint swelling, and rash.

The depressing fact is that there are no known medicines to treat Chikungunya and this being a virus disease one can only wait for it to complete its period which is usually a week and hope to recover on their own. This however is not the end of the story for some patients as the effects of this disease can linger on much longer the most prominent one being almost unbearable pain in the joints.

A friend of mine and his wife are the latest victim of........

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