Lockdown, awareness pull down malaria by 72% in state

Ranchi: As a bleak sign of relief, the number of cases of malaria in Jharkhand has substantially dipped this year in comparison to the same time period last year. Between January and June last year, the figure stood at 14,090 cases in the state while this year for the same period, it is just 3,991, which accounts for a close to 72% reduction. In 2018, the total number of cases of malaria recorded in the entire year was 57,095.
Though heightened awareness about hygiene due to the ongoing pandemic is pegged as the main reason behind the less case count, health department officials say limited migration and claim elimination of breeding spots by spraying larvicides have played the trick.
Talking to TOI, state health secretary Nitin Madan Kulkarni said, “Even during the pandemic we continued our surveillance and a special entomological survey. It was carried out in July this year in the districts to keep an eye on the spread of vector-borne diseases. We also ensured routine indoor residual spraying in all endemic areas and distributed over 9 lakh mosquitos nets in order to prevent any kind of outbreak while we are fighting against the pandemic.”
In 2019, from January to June, the state say 6,414 cases of cerebral malaria while for the same time frame this year, the figure stands at 2,299. As per records, a total of 20,711 had tested positive for cerebral malaria in 2018.
In 2018, Jharkhand accounted for 11% of the total cases of malaria reported from across the country even after the state had reported a 40% dip in cases. Of the 24 districts in Jharkhand, 13 are highly endemic to malaria.
On the reduced numbers, state entomologist Sagya Singh said, “There are different reasons behind the reduction of cases. Less number of Malaria cases is a result of our surveillance and awareness drive which was started two months before the arrival of monsoon. However, as far as dengue is concerned, the lockdown has helped us as migration a major reason behind its spread.”
Singh added, “If a person who has been infected with dengue travels to Jharkhand from any of the metro cities with high dengue prevalence, he/she is prone to infect others in the community which increases the chances of an outbreak.”
Ranchi had witnessed a double outbreak of dengue and Chikungunya in July-August 2018. Ranchi district vector borne disease officer Rajkumari said, “We lack manpower as various NGOs who used to support us on surveillance and awareness have pulled out. However, we are carrying out surveillance of three wards per day with a team of six persons.”