4,271 malaria cases in Mangalore this year

Study reveals spurt in cases every ninth year since 1996

(From left) S.K. Ghosh, senior scientist, National Institute of Malaria research; B.G. Prakash, Joint Director (Malaria and Filaria); and A.B.Ibrahim, Deputy Commissioner, at a review meeting in Mangalore on Tuesday. Photo: H.S. Manjunath

An epidemiological study has established a trend in malaria cases in Mangalore since 1996. There is a sudden spurt every ninth year, though the number of cases reported could decline in the following years. However, Udupi is comparatively free from this trend since 2010.

As many as 10,000 malaria cases were reported in 1996 in Mangalore. The figure went up to 12,000 in 2005. This year 4,271 cases have been reported so far. As many as 5,660 cases were reported in 2013.

This was revealed by B.G. Prakash, Joint Director (Malaria and Filaria) and S.K. Ghosh, senior scientist, National Institute of Malaria Research of Indian Council for Medical Research, at a meeting to review the National Vector Disease Control Programme of Mangalore and Udupi at the office of Deputy Commissioner A.B. Ibrahim, on Tuesday.

Many cases

The two cities, Dr. Prakash said, contributed to 80 per cent of malaria cases in the State, which reports 0.8 per cent of the total number of such cases in the country. Dr. Prakash and Dr. Ghosh pointed that the source for 70 per cent of malaria cases in Mangalore had been construction sites. Chemicals were just sprayed, but not at sites where mosquitoes bred.

There was lack of supervision on the way anti-larval action was being undertaken. Control measures were better in Udupi, Dr. Praksh observed.

He said, “Total system [in Mangalore] has broken… The entire State is going back to pre-elimination stage.” The two expressed the need for concerted efforts to arrest the growth of malaria in these two cities.

SMS system launched

The Health Department has put in place the SMS-based system of reporting of malaria cases in Dakshina Kannada.

Hospitals, clinics and laboratories registered under the Karnataka Private Medical Establishments Act 2007 can SMS to 8861866993 about malaria cases.

Reema, a representative of the firm that developed the system, said the SMS should contain the name, address, phone number and the disease detected by the concerned medical establishment. The application that receives the SMS maps the information on a spread sheet.

The application then sends SMS to health workers in the region, who will have to send SMS to the same number, giving details of the action within 15 days.