A drive will be carried on up to September to prevent incidence of malaria in the city by identifying vulnerable areas and deploying 240 staff and workers.
Vulnerable areas, mainly in Zones II and III of the city, where anti-larvae operations were being taken up, Chief Medical Officer (Health) P.V. Ramana Murthy and biologist Y. Mani told reporters on Monday.
The incidence of malaria has also come down from 326 in last May to 240 now. Mr. Ramana Murthy said while the treatment part was taken care of by the District Malaria Officer, preventive and surveillance measures were taken up by GVMC. Besides two fogging machines, 24 hand-held ones would be used for fogging. Up to September, the drive through pamphlets, banners, etc would be continued.
According to statistics, of the 1 lakh smears taken in 2011, 2,697 tested positive for plasmodium vivax and 17 for plasmodium falciparum, the more serious cerebral malaria.
