By NewsDesk @infectiousdiseasenews
Cases of falciparum malaria has spiked in Bareilly district in Uttar Pradesh state, with officials reporting 550 Plasmodium falciparum (PF) cases in the past month compared to about 150 in the first seven months of 2019.
According to reports, the less serious Plasmodium vivax (PV) malaria has accounted for more than 18,000 cases in the district year to date, including 5,600 in the past month.
In addition dozens have been infected with both malaria strains.
Officials said that incessant rainfall in the district have filled water bodies that have enhanced the breeding of mosquitoes.
“We have started intensive active surveillance in five blocks of the district to search malaria patients and start their immediate treatment on the spot. If a PF patient is not treated, it leads to the multiplication of parasite. Whenever a patient is tested positive for PF malaria, the indoor residual spray is conducted in all houses of that village to kill infected mosquitoes,” Times of India reported quoting Chief medical officer Dr Vineet Shukla.
Dr Shukla added that fogging and larvicidal spray is also underway to contain the breeding of mosquitoes.
During last year’s malaria outbreak in Bareilly district, a total of 17,425 patients were tested positive for PF malaria. and 20,057 were detected with PV malaria.
