Pathanamthitta district has recorded a steep rise in the number of malaria, filariasis, and H1N1 cases in the past two years, according to a survey conducted by the Health Department.
District Medical Officer A.L. Sheeja said the total number of confirmed dengue fever cases reported from different parts of the district in 2017 was 704 as against 204 cases in 2015.
Similarly, the Health Department inspection teams had confirmed filariasis in 137 persons in 2017 as against 50 cases in 2015. All the infected persons were migrant workers and no native patient had been identified so far, the DMO said.
Most of the filariasis cases had been reported from the Thiruvalla, Adoor, Pathanamthitta, and Pandalam municipal limits, she said.
It was also a fact that Pathanamthitta had been declared a district free of filariasis.
According to Dr. Sheeja, it is estimated that the district houses 20,000 migrant workers and blood tests have been conducted on 12,354 people.
The number of malaria cases diagnosed among the migrant workers in 2017 was 59 and one of them succumbed to the disease. Sixty confirmed cases had been reported in 2015.
Leptospirosis
The DMO said 97 cases of leptospirosis were reported from the district in 2017 as against the 61 cases in 2015.
She said five persons died of leptospirosis in 2017 and one in 2015.
Similarly, dengue fever caused four deaths in 2016 and one died of malaria in 2017.
H1N1 infection
Dr. Sheeja said the total number of H1N1 virus infection cases in the district was 62 with six deaths in 2017.
The death of a migrant worker due to cholera was another alarming situation in 2017 even though Kerala had been declared cholera-free.
Deputy DMO L. Anithakumari said the department would be launching a public awareness campaign, Arogya Jagrata, across the district against these epidemics.
Dr. Anithakumari said the awareness campaign would be carried out in association with the Local Self-Government Department.
