Alert sounded in Lucknow over 'isolated' Kala Azar case

LUCKNOW: In a rare first, an isolated case of Kala Azar has been reported in the Triveni Nagar area of Lucknow.

The patient is a 17-year-old boy with no history of travel to endemic regions, which include certain districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh, as well as neighboring states like Bihar and West Bengal. He had been suffering from intermittent low-grade fever and general lethargy for over a month.

A joint team of World Health Organisation and not for profit organisation PATH is assisting the state health department to undertake mitigation and management operations.

Sharing details, joint director, national vector borne diseases control programme, Dr AK Chaudhari said, “the case may be first of its kind in the city; but the fact is that sporadic cases of Kala Azar may surface from anywhere. The case was reported by Era’s Medical College after a confirmatory lab report and containment measures as per protocol have been launched.”

To note, Kala-Azar is a slow progressing disease caused by a protozoan parasite of family Leishmania.
In India, Leishmania donovani is the culprit parasite.

Data from the national vector borne diseases control programme shows that six districts (Kushinagar, Ballia, Deoria, Ghazipur, Bhadoi and Vaanasi) in UP were endemic to the disease while sporadic cases had been reported from 17 districts.
As many as 11 cases of the disease have been recorded in the state between January and October 2024. The disease has been eliminated as a public health problem in UP since 2019.

Assuring that the sporadic case was no threat to the community of any kind, Dr Chaudhary took the opportunity to emphasise on preventive measures.

“Common sandfly found in unhygienic areas are to be blamed for the diseases therefore it is important to maintain hygiene. Surveillance is what we can undertake at our end and the case being reported in an unexpected area speaks that the monitoring work is on track,” he said.


Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, and Mini Crossword.