The State government has alerted district authorities over the rise in the number of malaria cases in Dakshina Kannada.
District officials agree there has been a rise compared to last year but maintain that since August there has been a decline. Joint Director (Malaria and Filaria) B.G. Prakash said that over the past 10 months 7,201 persons have been diagnosed with malaria compared to 5,660 in 2013. “There is a definite increase in the number of cases. District authorities have been alerted of this,” Dr. Prakash said, adding that more cases are being reported compared to earlier years.
District Malaria Officer Arun Kumar S.B. said a month-wise analysis showed a decrease in cases. There were 718 cases in August, 662 in September and 492 in October. Steps to prevent mosquito breeding and the climate have caused the decrease, he said.
The Mangalore City Corporation (MCC) says the rise in cases is due to the increase in reports from as many as 80 laboratories. “There is almost cent per cent reporting of cases,” said MCC Health Officer Manjaiah Shetty. He said notices had been issued against four building firms with a fine of Rs. 15,000 each for neglecting measures to prevent mosquiot breeding.
Numbers differ
A curious thing is that there is a difference in the number of malaria cases that is reported by the corporation and the District Malaria Office. While the corporation reported as many as 930 cases in October, the District Malaria Office pegs it at 438. District Malaria Officer Arun Kumar S.B. said the corporation also numbers results examination of blood smears and those subjected to what is known as Quantitative Buffy Coat Test. Most private laboratories resort to this test to detect malaria.
The reason offered is that blood smear test is the method accepted under the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme.
Mangaluru: Srinivas Kakkilaya, a doctor who has been actively involved in malaria prevention, has questioned the health authorities’ decision to exclude positive cases of malaria detected using the Quantitative Buffy Coat Test in the overall statistics. Dr. Kakkilaya said the test had been followed by many private hospitals and laboratories and like the blood smear test, it is sensitive enough to detect malaria parasite. “By leaving out QBC the State is not getting the exact number of cases,” he said.
