Cold fails to quell malaria, 81 cases reported in dist in Feb

Bareilly: Malaria cases — plasmodium vivax (PV) and rare plasmodium falciparum (PF) — continue to be reported in the district even in winter season. Malaria had broken out in the district last year. In February, 74 cases of PV and seven cases of PF were detected while 83 cases of PF and 61 cases of PV were reported in January. In 2018, a total of 17,425 patients had tested positive for PF and 20,057 were detected with PV in the district.
When the weather drops to around 16 degree Centigrade, mosquitoes become inactive and their breeding is minimum.According to Indian Meteorological Department, the minimum temperature of Bareilly on Friday was recorded at eight degrees Centigrade.
Dr Vineet Shukla, chief medical officer, said, “In the winter season, the density of mosquitoes is low but mosquitoes do not completely die. As the malaria parasite is still present in the region, cases of malaria continue to be reported but the number of cases has been decreasing.”
D R Singh, district malaria officer, said, “We have been conducting fogging and larvicidal spraying in 68 high-risk villages which were identified following the outbreak of malaria in the district.”
Officials said they conducted awareness and cleanliness drive involving several departments during the vector-borne control campaign from February 10 to 28. “Several departments are closely monitoring it and the panchayati raj department has been ensuring cleanliness while villagers have been told to make sure that there is no waterlogging to minimize breeding of mosquitoes,” said Shukla.
According to officials, they have planned a strategy to deal with malaria during common infection period of vector-borne diseases — which is from June 15 to October 15. “We will appoint a nodal teacher in each school of the district who will write in students’ diaries to inform both children and their kin about cleanliness and drinking of safe and clean water. They will be told that if any person has fever, he or she should avoid self-medication but consult the nearest primary or community health centre. We will soon conduct a meeting of ASHA, ANM and anganwadi workers who will alert their seniors if they find any fever patient in a house-to-house survey,” added the CMO.