Malaria cases shoot up in Bareilly, higher than last year

Bareilly: With Bareilly reporting 39,456 malaria cases till October 11, the positive cases is higher than the number detected in the same period last year. The district had reported an outbreak of malaria in 2018 with 37,382 cases and the health department here started fogging, larvicidal spray and indoor residual spray early this year to contain mosquito breeding.However, the number of cases is more than last year.
According to latest data available with the health department, 1,98,053 patients with fever were detected in the district from January to October 11 this year. Of these, 30,411 cases were of milder form of malaria -- plasmodium vivax (PV) -- while 9,045 were of suffering from the “deadly” malaria strain -- plasmodium falciparum (PF).
The health department has conducted larvicidal spray in 1,147 villages and fogging in 385 villages so far this year.
However, out of the total 2,50,927 fever patients in 2018, the health department had detected 20,057 persons with PV and 17,425 with PF in Bareilly district. The number of PF cases has gone down this year but the district has reported a surge in total number of malaria cases in comparison to 2018. Even PV cases are continuously rising in the district.
Chief medical officer (CMO) Dr Vineet Shukla said, “Our aim is to eradicate malaria from its roots in Bareilly and hence, we are trying to trace maximum number of persons carrying malaria parasite. We have been conducting active case finding by holding camps in affected villages to identify hidden patients. Unlike last year, the situation is under control this time and we have not reported any single casualty.”
CMO added, “As the malaria season is about to get over, the number of positive cases per day of both PF and PV has started declining.
Additional director (health), Bareilly division, Dr Rakesh Dubey, told TOI, “The measures taken by the health department for malaria will be visible in the district next year. The number of positive cases will sharply decrease in 2020.”
Apart from Bareilly, the neighbouring districts too have reported a surge in malaria cases in comparison to last year. From 393 malaria cases in Shahjahanpur in 2018, it increased to 768 from January to October 11 this year. Pilibhit detected 541 malaria cases in 2018 but it rose to 815 cases during the same period.